Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,138 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $5,244,463,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 20,758.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,951,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,355,087,000 after purchasing an additional 7,913,335 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $1,010,685,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings 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 period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,560 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.86.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $162.19 on Thursday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $156.58 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.