Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 1.1%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $153.52 and last traded at $155.60. 3,855,815 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 6,818,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $368.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.83.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Dfpg Investments LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after buying an additional 12,016 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after buying an additional 30,473 shares in the last quarter. 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.