Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,725 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $50,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock opened at $158.14 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.02. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

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.