Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $175.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $182.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an outperform rating and a $187.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $174.29.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $169.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. Procter & Gamble has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $170.92.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 9,149 shares of the 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 approximately $2,168,451.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 125,320 shares of company stock worth $20,696,223 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after purchasing an additional 559,358 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,402,636,000 after purchasing an additional 246,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,539 shares during the last quarter. 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.