Norges Bank Invests $4.66 Billion in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 32,550,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,783,000. Procter & Gamble makes up about 0.5% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,459,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,030,358,000 after buying an additional 2,829,151 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 100.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,460,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $782,607,000 after buying an additional 2,741,924 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,682,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,606,748,000 after buying an additional 2,222,560 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,974,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PG shares. Evercore set a $162.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $167.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $163.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.06.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.6%

PG stock opened at $143.60 on Friday. Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $137.62 and a 12 month high of $170.99. The firm has a market cap of $334.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 32.00%. The business had revenue of $21.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.60%.

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.