Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.2% Following Dividend Announcement

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $161.15 and last traded at $160.08. 2,432,942 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 6,257,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.74.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $376.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.52. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.