Macquarie Group Ltd. Lowers Stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Key Points

• Macquarie Group Ltd. reduced its Procter & Gamble stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 32,200 shares and leaving it with 457,177 shares valued at about $65.3 million.
• Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.59 per share, though revenue of $21.24 billion came in slightly below estimates. Revenue still rose 7.4% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.0885 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $4.35 and a yield of about 2.9%.

Macquarie Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 457,177 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,200 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $65,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,738,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 6,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grant Street Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $149.47 on Friday. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $137.62 and a 1 year high of $167.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $144.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.70. The firm has a market cap of $348.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.52 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 32.00%. Procter & Gamble's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th were paid a dividend of $1.0885 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is 63.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PG. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore set a $162.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.78.

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.

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