Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,130,944 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 383,784 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Procter & Gamble worth $874,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.8% in the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 57,015 shares of the company's stock worth $9,181,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the last quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 141,594 shares of the company's stock worth $24,130,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 20.4% in the first quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the company's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Smart Money Group LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 20.2% in the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 6,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,386,111.70. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $160.72. The company had a trading volume of 6,999,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,490,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $162.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.37. Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $156.58 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $376.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.40.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 32.67%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PG. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.45.

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.