Procter & Gamble Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:PG)

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 32,103 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,211 call options.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.5 %

PG opened at $169.57 on Friday. Procter & Gamble has a 12-month low of $142.50 and a 12-month high of $177.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $399.34 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $170.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.27.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.48%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,570. This represents a 87.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,360. This trade represents a 25.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,597 shares of company stock worth $53,268,499 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. FMR LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after purchasing an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after acquiring an additional 830,476 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,844,442,000 after acquiring an additional 105,734 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,049,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,400,000 after purchasing an additional 426,409 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

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.