Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.2% Higher

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) rose 0.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $156.94 and last traded at $155.75. Approximately 1,135,758 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 6,785,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $369.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.80.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 2.56%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 62.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.2% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 12.0% during the first quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.