Sanders Morris Harris LLC Has $1.55 Million Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 56.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,541 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,445 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,547,021,000 after buying an additional 559,358 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $168.26. 14,682,061 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,021,979. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $397.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $168.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.09.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.