Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 1.8% – What’s Next?

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) traded down 1.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $151.43 and last traded at $153.2410. 8,746,004 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 11,471,907 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on PG shares. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.8%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $152.80 and a 200-day moving average of $151.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.37.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd were issued a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 1,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $288,463.14. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,818,083.90. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jon R. Moeller sold 162,232 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.45, for a total value of $26,354,588.40. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 319,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,884,093.25. The trade was a 33.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 348,618 shares of company stock valued at $55,462,643 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $34,030,358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,151 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 101,618,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,563,008,000 after purchasing an additional 984,102 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,647,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,962,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,556 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,664,783,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,091,091 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Procter & Gamble

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.