Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 18,772 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 237,872 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,772 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $39,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,432,000 after buying an additional 56,583 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after buying an additional 608,168 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 13,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the third quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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, January 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $173.07 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $405.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.84.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.01%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.