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

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.7 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $162.58. 7,216,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,971,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 15,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,469,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth about $224,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 32,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,197,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 87,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,132,000 after purchasing an additional 16,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,050.2% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 109,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,708,000 after purchasing an additional 99,649 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.88.

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.