Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 1.1%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) fell 1.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $153.52 and last traded at $155.60. 3,855,815 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 6,818,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $372.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.97.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.50%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.