Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price fell 0.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $169.17 and last traded at $169.94. 1,302,343 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 7,692,136 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.82.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $168.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.29. The stock has a market cap of $398.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.0% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,015,000 after purchasing an additional 8,477 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $594,000. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $485,000. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $5,899,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.