Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $171.82 and last traded at $170.97. 828,397 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,684,733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PG. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.74 and a 200 day moving average of $169.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,080 shares of company stock worth $14,629,038. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.