Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Trims Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd cut its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,960 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,479 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 4.4% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $8,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, 10Elms LLP bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. The trade was a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,520 shares of company stock worth $10,999,268 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on Procter & Gamble and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $161.00 target price on Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.52.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $165.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,349,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,275,251. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.33. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $156.58 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $389.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio 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.