The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,161,084 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,774 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for 3.7% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $697,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.11.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $175.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $411.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.61. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.