Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 1.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $176.20 and last traded at $175.99. 986,959 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 6,534,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $416.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $169.38 and a 200-day moving average of $165.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.69%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $76,149.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.