Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 0.8%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $171.15 and last traded at $171.74. Approximately 1,460,343 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 6,656,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on PG. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $405.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $171.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,477 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 114.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,716 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter valued at about $233,788,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter valued at about $228,212,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,560,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.