Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price traded down 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $168.46 and last traded at $168.54. 948,185 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 6,654,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 30th. BNP Paribas assumed 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.05.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $397.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $171.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.65.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,570. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,570. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,194 shares of company stock valued at $65,140,718 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 64.7% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.