Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.1% during trading on Thursday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $185.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $164.32 and last traded at $162.77. 2,044,863 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 6,908,812 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.60.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $380.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.