Argent Advisors Inc. Sells 3,687 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Argent Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,707 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,687 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,757 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $301,950,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.0 %

PG stock opened at $169.70 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $167.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.