Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 0.8%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares traded down 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $172.51 and last traded at $172.59. 795,732 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,557,726 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on PG shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $410.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.01.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,002,649.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 31.4% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $1,173,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $19,519,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $69,596,000. Finally, Creekside Partners purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $637,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.