Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Downgraded by Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has $163.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Dbs Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $171.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $405.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. Procter & Gamble has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $177.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $171.09 and its 200-day moving average is $166.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 2.34%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,332,570. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,043.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 182,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,799,000 after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 203,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,760,000 after purchasing an additional 39,955 shares during the last quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $314,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 460,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,524,000 after buying an additional 20,096 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,558,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,402,000 after buying an additional 20,956 shares during the last quarter. 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.