Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.5%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price rose 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $171.38 and last traded at $170.81. Approximately 925,117 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 6,534,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.89. The firm has a market cap of $401.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted 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 company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,043.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $76,149.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,043.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,547,021,000 after purchasing an additional 559,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 worth $1,598,510,000 after purchasing an additional 733,440 shares during the period. 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.