Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.3%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price was up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $164.61 and last traded at $164.37. Approximately 1,308,365 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,524,437 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Argus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $389.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were 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 was Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $17,696,000. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 29.0% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 43,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,010,000 after purchasing an additional 9,716 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 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.