The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Insider Balaji Purushothaman Sells 28,369 Shares

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.7 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $162.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $163.14. The stock has a market cap of $383.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159,796 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,685 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,805 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.