Barclays Cuts Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Price Target to $155.00

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $163.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PG. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.65.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $161.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. Procter & Gamble has a fifty-two week low of $146.28 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.19 and a 200 day moving average of $169.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.31%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PG. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,135.1% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 20,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 19,013 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Cowa LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.2% during the second quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,784,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 131,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,763,000 after acquiring an additional 15,337 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.