Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Decreases Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC trimmed its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,544 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up 1.0% of Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PG. Pegasus Partners Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. now owns 15,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 27.4% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 15,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,310 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 126.4% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 369,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,964,000 after purchasing an additional 36,461 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,179,061.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $168.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $169.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $164.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.