Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $176.74 and last traded at $176.22. 797,416 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,694,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $170.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business 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 business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 269,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,203,373.80. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, 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 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13.6% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,059,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,547,000 after acquiring an additional 126,865 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 50,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,814,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 55,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,536,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during 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 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.