Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.5% Higher

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $167.75 and last traded at $167.65. 904,424 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 6,552,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $165.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $393.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Alera Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the first quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the first quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 5,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.