Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $170.16 and last traded at $169.62. 895,801 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,027,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on PG shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.50.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $390.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.31 and its 200 day moving average is $168.54.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.20%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,524,976,000 after buying an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,457,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,419 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,928,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,386,194,000 after buying an additional 1,209,275 shares during the period. 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.