Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $162.15 and last traded at $161.67. 1,951,104 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 6,395,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PG. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.25.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

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’s 50 day moving average price is $168.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.