Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $162.40 and last traded at $162.07. 4,971,857 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 6,561,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, December 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 2.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $373.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during 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%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.