Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 1.4%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price dropped 1.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $171.21 and last traded at $171.50. Approximately 1,735,882 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 6,522,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PG. Citigroup boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $411.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 61,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,098,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.5% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 83,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,771,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 31.4% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $1,173,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $19,519,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.