Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 0.3% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) dropped 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $169.51 and last traded at $170.22. Approximately 1,228,192 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 6,648,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $401.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $170.07 and its 200 day moving average is $168.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,360. This represents a 25.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 270,727 shares of company stock worth $46,014,037 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other 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.