Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 0.3% – What’s Next?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded down 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $168.31 and last traded at $168.42. 948,791 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,126,514 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PG. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $167.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.