The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.45.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after buying an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after acquiring an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $173.82 on Friday. Procter & Gamble has a one year low of $142.50 and a one year high of $180.43. The stock has a market cap of $409.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $170.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.39.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

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.