Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $183,000 Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PG. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 105,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,412,000 after purchasing an additional 9,111 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. American Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 24,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PG shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $158.14. 12,034,186 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,329,782. The business’s 50-day moving average is $159.14 and its 200-day moving average is $152.92. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 67.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.