Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price was down 0.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $178.28 and last traded at $178.43. Approximately 879,919 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 6,711,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PG. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $422.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.98.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,233 shares of company stock valued at $6,024,234. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.