The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $180.45.

PG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, December 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,110. The trade was a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $160.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. Procter & Gamble has a 52-week low of $146.28 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.80. The firm has a market cap of $378.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.