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

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $163.32 and last traded at $164.17. 1,413,807 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 7,468,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $387.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after buying an additional 201,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,065,000 after buying an additional 6,077 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.