Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 0.8% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $170.74 and last traded at $170.99. Approximately 3,557,251 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 6,898,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 5.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $383.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.29.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after buying an additional 608,168 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.0% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,550,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,555,000 after purchasing an additional 59,129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.