The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Receives $178.52 Average Price Target from Analysts

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $178.52.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,520 shares of company stock worth $10,999,268. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 141,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,760,000 after purchasing an additional 11,677 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $958,000. Finally, Birch Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG opened at $158.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Procter & Gamble has a 1 year low of $156.58 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $372.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $165.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.