Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 152,071 Shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,966,462 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 152,071 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises 0.7% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Procter & Gamble worth $1,016,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 40,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,717,000 after purchasing an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 493.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 341,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,294,000 after purchasing an additional 284,174 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 166,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,987,000 after purchasing an additional 13,836 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,937,000. Finally, Sims Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.45.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $160.00. 19,250,153 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,433,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $375.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.43. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $162.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.62. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $156.58 and a 1-year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 32.67%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.