Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Downgraded by Barclays

Barclays cut shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $163.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG opened at $170.06 on Monday. Procter & Gamble has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $177.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $171.15 and a 200 day moving average of $166.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 269,172 shares in the company, valued at $46,203,373.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,194 shares of company stock valued at $65,140,718 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth about $264,000. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. now owns 10,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.8% during the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 11,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. Wiser Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 25.2% in the third quarter. Wiser Wealth Management Inc now owns 3,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 18.5% in the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.