Ballast Advisors LLC Increases Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,907 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $165.21. The stock had a trading volume of 6,509,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,655,382. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $389.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $169.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.72.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

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

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.