Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price dropped 1.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $158.75 and last traded at $159.84. Approximately 2,286,284 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 5,811,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $373.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $169.64 and a 200 day moving average of $169.59.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This represents a 12.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after buying an additional 830,476 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.