Dodge & Cox Cuts Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Dodge & Cox reduced its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,426 shares of the company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $15,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 65,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,911,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares during the period. CacheTech Inc. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 686.1% during the 4th quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 9,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 8,473 shares during the last quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 146.8% during the 4th quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 28,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,848,000 after acquiring an additional 17,201 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 3,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,387,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $169.11 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.35 and a 200-day moving average of $168.56. The firm has a market cap of $396.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.20%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.50.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.