The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO Gary A. Coombe Sells 21,388 Shares

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $165.09. 2,635,270 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,847,687. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.49. The company has a market cap of $389.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $166.37.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, 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 objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

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.