Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $1.10 Million Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,531 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159,796 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,685 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after buying an additional 2,268,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth approximately $246,412,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total value of $5,049,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $164.46. The stock had a trading volume of 5,577,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,918,823. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $164.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

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.