Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lessened its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 56.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,703 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,227 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,936,343,000 after purchasing an additional 510,559 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after buying an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:PG opened at $155.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $365.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.70. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.98%.

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.