Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $1.01 Billion in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,028,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,685,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.26% of Procter & Gamble at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after buying an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,850,000 after buying an additional 312,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,881,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,830,252,000 after buying an additional 459,437 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.11.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $174.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $166.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.