Fernwood Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,685 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth $246,412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,865 shares of company stock worth $9,009,280. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.3 %

PG stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,229,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,858,716. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $164.32. The firm has a market cap of $382.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.