Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $874.42 Million Holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,130,944 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing 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 SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG opened at $161.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $377.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $156.58 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.67% and a net margin of 18.46%. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.14%.

Procter & Gamble 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.