Welch & Forbes LLC Trims Stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its Procter & Gamble stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,647 shares and leaving it with 768,228 shares valued at about $110.1 million.
• Analysts remain generally positive on PG, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.06; recent calls were mixed, including both higher and lower target revisions.
• Procter & Gamble posted quarterly EPS of $1.59, beating estimates, and raised its dividend to $1.0885 per share quarterly, which implies a 3.0% yield.

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 768,228 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,647 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for 1.3% of Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $110,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 109.5% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 8,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,000 after buying an additional 4,402 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 631,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,529,000 after buying an additional 51,100 shares during the period. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. now owns 30,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,425,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $4,664,783,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PG. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore set a $162.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.06.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.6%

PG opened at $143.60 on Friday. Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $137.62 and a 12 month high of $170.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $144.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.89.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.52 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.00% and a net margin of 19.16%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were given a dividend of $1.0885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $4.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is currently 63.60%.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble NYSE: PG is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world's largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G's product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.

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