Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $162.61 and last traded at $161.35. 1,702,558 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 5,182,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

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 company’s fifty day moving average is $170.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.80. The firm has a market cap of $380.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.