Insider Selling: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO Sells $3,089,880.00 in Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $172.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $403.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after buying an additional 1,592,061 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,457,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,419 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth about $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,928,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,757 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Procter & Gamble

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.