The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Short Interest Up 22.4% in February

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,600,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the January 31st total of 16,010,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.11.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $173.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $405.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.65. Procter & Gamble has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Tevis Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 11,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.