Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 0.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) were up 0.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $179.69 and last traded at $179.64. Approximately 1,446,990 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 6,701,929 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $170.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.11. The company has a market cap of $421.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.