Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.1% After Insider Selling

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded down 0.1% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $162.22 and last traded at $163.08. 1,647,706 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 6,877,036 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.20.

Specifically, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total transaction of $5,049,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, 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 transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total value of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PG. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $386.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $402,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,685 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position 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 valued at $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares during the period. 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.