Balaji Purushothaman Sells 28,369 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.0 %

PG opened at $162.55 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $159.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $383.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $164.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Davies Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth $1,142,000. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 22.2% in the first quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% in the first quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.2% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 115,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,726,000 after purchasing an additional 6,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.2% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 15,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.