The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,760,000 shares, a decrease of 13.9% from the November 30th total of 20,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $1,202,751.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 269,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,203,373.80. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674,286 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,230,000 after buying an additional 3,653,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after buying an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $301,950,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.4 %

PG stock opened at $169.53 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.88. Procter & Gamble has a 12 month low of $145.04 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.