Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Raised to Buy at DA Davidson

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) was upgraded by stock analysts at DA Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $209.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $160.00. DA Davidson’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.56% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PG. Barclays cut shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $176.28 on Monday. Procter & Gamble has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $415.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $170.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.66.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. This represents a 12.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,673 shares of company stock worth $10,102,753. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.