Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $167.84 and last traded at $167.41. Approximately 1,059,542 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 6,633,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.28. 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 stock has a market cap of $394.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 31,797 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $5,380,688.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,897,483.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,597 shares of company stock worth $53,268,499. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,844,442,000 after purchasing an additional 105,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,049,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,400,000 after purchasing an additional 426,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.