Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after DA Davidson upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. DA Davidson now has a $209.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $178.74 and last traded at $178.21, with a volume of 781518 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $176.28.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,473 shares of company stock valued at $12,313,697 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the second 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $301,950,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $417.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $170.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.31%.

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.