Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,232,038 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,428,898 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up 0.7% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,721,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in 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. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.00.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $163.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $383.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $169.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.12. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

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.