Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Upgraded to “Buy” at DA Davidson

DA Davidson upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $209.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $160.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG opened at $177.40 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.04 and a 200 day moving average of $168.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $142.50 and a twelve month high of $178.82. The company has a market capitalization of $417.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. This trade represents a 12.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,473 shares of company stock valued at $12,313,697. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% in the second quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.