Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price rose 0.1% during trading on Thursday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $185.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $164.32 and last traded at $162.77. Approximately 2,044,863 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 6,908,812 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.60.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after buying an additional 3,159,796 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,601,000 after buying an additional 2,727,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,475,000 after buying an additional 2,268,805 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.0 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.46 and its 200 day moving average is $153.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $383.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.