Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $173.68 and last traded at $172.53. 1,249,040 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 6,655,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.21.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $404.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,657,210. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,194 shares of company stock valued at $65,140,718 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth $270,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.7% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 83,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,588,000 after purchasing an additional 8,084 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.8% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 11,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.5% during the first quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 15,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.