Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 1.3%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price was up 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $174.57 and last traded at $174.45. Approximately 1,395,149 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 6,677,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $409.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $170.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,552,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,546,302,000 after buying an additional 554,451 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,691,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,598,510,000 after buying an additional 733,440 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,161,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,705,000 after buying an additional 545,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,008,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,914,000 after buying an additional 79,665 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.