Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.4%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $174.54 and last traded at $174.25. 815,215 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,547,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Dbs Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $410.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.07. 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 data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $2,216,970.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.