Covea Finance Sells 42,000 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Covea Finance cut its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 43.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,000 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $9,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG opened at $159.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $146.28 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $169.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.52.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. The trade was a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.