The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,106 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 115,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,858,000 after buying an additional 15,599 shares during the period. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,605,961.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,724 shares of company stock worth $19,312,729. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PG. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Argus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $1.32 on Tuesday, reaching $165.76. 6,374,243 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,896,868. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $391.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $160.23 and its 200-day moving average is $154.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $166.04.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble 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.