Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 2.1% – Here’s What Happened

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price shot up 2.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $179.99 and last traded at $179.65. 2,664,386 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 6,350,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.11.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $413.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $166.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,432,000 after purchasing an additional 56,583 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after buying an additional 608,168 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after acquiring an additional 6,677 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.