Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0% – Should You Buy?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $166.64 and last traded at $166.21. 575,430 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 6,626,038 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PG. DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $388.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,212,043.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 389,144 shares of company stock valued at $66,184,385 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth approximately $258,000. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 10,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 21.2% in the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 20,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,280,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 11.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 55,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,073,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accel Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 929.0% in the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 31,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,032,000 after acquiring an additional 28,001 shares in the last quarter. 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.