First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 11,463 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,264 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,463 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up 0.7% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dfpg Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company's stock worth $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company's stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company's stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 12,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company's stock worth $2,298,184,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.38. 7,542,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,949,876. The business's 50 day moving average is $159.82 and its 200-day moving average is $153.91. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $164.32. The company has a market capitalization of $385.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

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