Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys 5,746 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 448,981 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,746 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $75,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,457,000,000 after buying an additional 1,267,419 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,928,107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,757 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,386,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,275 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock opened at $159.28 on Thursday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $156.58 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $166.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.73.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.