Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.5% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price rose 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $162.40 and last traded at $162.07. Approximately 4,971,857 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 6,561,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $381.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.