Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.2% Higher

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price traded up 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $156.94 and last traded at $155.75. 1,135,758 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 6,785,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $368.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $159.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,936,343,000 after acquiring an additional 510,559 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after buying an additional 670,862 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.