The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Sanders Capital LLC

Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,353,715 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,168 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.8% of Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sanders Capital LLC owned 0.31% of Procter & Gamble worth $1,232,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $1,010,685,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,757 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,709.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,006,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895,421 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $166.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. 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 $168.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.62. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.53%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 67.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.50.

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.