Westpac Banking Corp Decreases Holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Westpac Banking Corp cut its position in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 64,794 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,794 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for 0.6% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $9,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WP Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Emprise Bank grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.5% in the third quarter. Emprise Bank now owns 2,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. now owns 20,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $177.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PG stock opened at $163.45 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $137.62 and a 1-year high of $179.99. The firm has a market cap of $379.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.38.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $2,056,296.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,026,158.09. This represents a 50.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 15,169 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.28, for a total transaction of $2,461,625.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,735 shares in the company, valued at $7,259,595.80. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 343,069 shares of company stock worth $54,545,448. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.