Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $169.29 and last traded at $168.89. 1,500,982 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,406,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $167.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.80. The company has a market cap of $394.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,812,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tevis Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 11,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.