Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its Procter & Gamble stake by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 53,797 shares and leaving it with 896,693 shares worth about $128.5 million.
• Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $1.59, though revenue of $21.24 billion came in slightly below estimates. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.0885 per share, implying a 3.1% yield.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on PG, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $161.06. At the same time, the stock was trading down 2.2% at $140.34, near its 52-week low.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 896,693 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,797 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $128,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,459,756 shares of the company's stock worth $34,030,358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,151 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 100,634,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,462,541,000 after purchasing an additional 370,872 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,647,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,962,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,556 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,664,783,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,850,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,510,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of PG stock opened at $140.34 on Tuesday. 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 Company has a 1 year low of $137.62 and a 1 year high of $169.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $144.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were paid a $1.0885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore set a $162.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.06.

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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