Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 1.1% Higher

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price was up 1.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $176.20 and last traded at $175.99. Approximately 986,959 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,534,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Dbs Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.49. The company has a market cap of $410.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.