Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 189,968 Shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,556,061 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 189,968 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up 0.6% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,543,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 594,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,409,000 after acquiring an additional 21,825 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,796,000. Vega Investment Solutions raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vega Investment Solutions now owns 638,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,710,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Triodos Investment Management BV raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV now owns 255,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,195,000 after acquiring an additional 17,400 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,891,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.1%

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $155.33 on Tuesday. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $137.62 and a 1 year high of $179.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $152.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $360.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 15,169 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.28, for a total transaction of $2,461,625.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,259,595.80. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 36,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.33, for a total value of $5,858,976.69. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 34,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,680,576.02. This represents a 50.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 348,618 shares of company stock valued at $55,462,643. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.