Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after DA Davidson upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. DA Davidson now has a $209.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $178.74 and last traded at $178.21, with a volume of 781518 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $176.28.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. This represents a 12.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,473 shares of company stock worth $12,313,697. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.5% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,192,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,733,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 110,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,971,000 after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter valued at about $3,771,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 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.