Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Rating Lowered to Hold at Dbs Bank

Dbs Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $173.95.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock opened at $170.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.21. Procter & Gamble has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $170.92.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.33% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 9,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total transaction of $1,534,470.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,451.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 9,149 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total transaction of $1,534,470.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,451.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,179,061.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,461 shares of company stock worth $10,392,774 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $17,696,000. Campbell Wealth Management boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 29.0% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 43,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,010,000 after purchasing an additional 9,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 115,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,858,000 after purchasing an additional 15,599 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.