Francis Financial Inc. Acquires 1,315 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Francis Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 91.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,750 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Francis Financial Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $461,000 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 business. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 95.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,520 shares of company stock worth $10,999,268. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.52.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $157.73 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $156.58 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.57. The firm has a market cap of $369.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.