The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO R. Alexandra Keith Sells 855 Shares of Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

R. Alexandra Keith also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 4th, R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $161.50 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $163.14. The company has a market cap of $380.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.26.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after acquiring an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after acquiring an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after acquiring an additional 346,925 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.