Safeguard Financial LLC Has $793,000 Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Safeguard Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 34.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,651 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,487 shares during the quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 51.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $50,049,000. Guidance Capital Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 13,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 12,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 159,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,692,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $164.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,692,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,324,004. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $156.58 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.27.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price target on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.86.

Insider Activity

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

Procter & Gamble 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.