Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 1.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $169.48 and last traded at $169.05. Approximately 2,487,238 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 6,641,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lowered Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.33. The company has a market capitalization of $399.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,325,360. This represents a 25.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 313,597 shares of company stock worth $53,268,499. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,637,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.6% in the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 217,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,277,000 after buying an additional 9,616 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.