Versant Capital Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 92.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,617 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the company's stock worth $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the company's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,738 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the company's stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the first quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 3,664 shares of the company's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,584,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,308,668. The firm has a market capitalization of $398.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.39. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $156.58 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Raymond James lowered their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.52.

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.