Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.5% on Insider Selling

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price traded down 0.5% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $159.42 and last traded at $160.64. 1,437,864 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 6,895,417 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.50.

Specifically, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.0 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.57 and a 200 day moving average of $153.39. The firm 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after buying an additional 3,159,796 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,601,000 after buying an additional 2,727,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,475,000 after buying an additional 2,268,805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.