Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $180.43 and last traded at $180.28. 1,438,216 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 6,719,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday. DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Dbs Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $422.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $170.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.98.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,233 shares of company stock valued at $6,024,234 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after purchasing an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after buying an additional 830,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, SK-II, and Native brands.