Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Procter & Gamble Call Options (NYSE:PG)

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PGGet Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 32,103 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,211 call options.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $2.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $169.75. 3,424,749 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,646,351. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $142.50 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The firm has a market cap of $399.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PGGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PG shares. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on PG

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,043.84. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 313,597 shares of company stock worth $53,268,499. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674,286 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,477 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $301,950,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter worth $233,788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

(Get Free Report)

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.

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