Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) rose 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $162.61 and last traded at $161.35. 1,702,558 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 5,182,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $381.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,110. This represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $569,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after acquiring an additional 6,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after acquiring an additional 201,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.