Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 1.8%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price rose 1.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $171.56 and last traded at $171.05. Approximately 1,958,401 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 6,654,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.95.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.33% and a net margin of 17.71%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,657,210. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 9,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total value of $1,534,470.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,451.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,288 shares of company stock valued at $8,895,638 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.