Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $165.90 and last traded at $165.53. 812,133 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,611,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $171.52 and its 200 day moving average is $168.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $390.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of Procter & Gamble 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 385,771 shares of company stock valued at $65,610,975. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 323,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,094,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 67.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 26,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,420,000 after buying an additional 10,777 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 59,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,837,000 after buying an additional 20,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.