Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 1%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $160.49 and last traded at $160.95. Approximately 1,357,335 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,900,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.57.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,685 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,805 shares during the period. 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.