JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd reduced its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 429,274 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,698 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $71,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the company's stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 27,690 shares of the company's stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 236,616 shares of the company's stock worth $38,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 55,912 shares of the company's stock worth $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company's stock worth $20,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PG traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $158.27. 5,984,733 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,210,516. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $156.58 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a market cap of $371.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $164.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.37.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Procter & Gamble from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction 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 the business'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 sale, the insider now 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 have sold a total of 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.