The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Safeguard Financial LLC

Safeguard Financial LLC cut its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 34.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. The trade was a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.86.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $162.62 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $156.58 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $381.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $164.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.