Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Price Target Raised to $186.00

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $179.00 to $186.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $174.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $170.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.74. Procter & Gamble has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,332,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 61,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,098,000 after buying an additional 5,402 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 83,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,771,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 31.4% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $1,173,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth about $19,519,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.