Franklin Resources Inc. Has $3.29 Billion Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up 0.9% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.81% of Procter & Gamble worth $3,290,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after buying an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,844,442,000 after buying an additional 105,734 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PG. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG opened at $170.86 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $170.69 and a 200-day moving average of $169.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $402.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $142.50 and a 1 year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 269,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,203,373.80. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.