Finward Bancorp Invests $1.51 Million in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Finward Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000. Procter & Gamble makes up 1.3% of Finward Bancorp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 236,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 55,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $569,000. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.50.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $169.11 on Tuesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $168.35 and a 200-day moving average of $168.56. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $396.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.20%.

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.