Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Lowered to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $163.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $170.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Procter & Gamble has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $177.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,332,570. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 383,194 shares of company stock worth $65,140,718. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alera Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the first quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the first quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 5,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the second quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.