Level Four Advisory Services LLC Has $7.83 Million Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,697 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $168.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.46. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $395.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.82.

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.