Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

PG has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG opened at $167.66 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $167.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.78. Procter & Gamble has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,240,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,846,560 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.