Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 2.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PGGet Free Report)’s stock price traded up 2.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $148.95 and last traded at $148.0420. 9,222,648 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 10,835,585 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.90.

Key Headlines Impacting Procter & Gamble

Here are the key news stories impacting Procter & Gamble this week:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PG. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $167.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $146.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.06.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $344.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.60.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PGGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 32.00%. The firm had revenue of $21.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be issued a $1.0885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 24th. This represents a $4.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 63.60%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 36,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.33, for a total value of $5,858,976.69. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,680,576.02. This trade represents a 50.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 5,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $917,194.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,083.41. This represents a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 244,715 shares of company stock worth $39,702,904. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,459,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,030,358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,151 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 101,618,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,563,008,000 after acquiring an additional 984,102 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,647,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,962,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,556 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $4,664,783,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,612,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,243,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

(Get Free Report)

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.

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