Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $172.51 and last traded at $172.46. 1,285,917 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 6,650,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $415.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.62.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $1,202,751.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 269,172 shares in the company, valued at $46,203,373.80. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,693 shares of company stock valued at $27,311,345 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth about $301,950,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.