Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 96.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188,000 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 9,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total transaction of $1,534,470.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,451.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $167.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.12. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $168.97.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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 posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. 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.