Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 249,749 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 249,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,870,000. Procter & Gamble makes up 1.3% of Avanza Fonder AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.65.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $161.35 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $146.28 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $169.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.