Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.6% Higher

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $156.98 and last traded at $156.93. 1,640,503 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 6,780,338 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PG. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.80. The company has a market capitalization of $369.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.98%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,840,449,000 after buying an additional 38,495,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $3,956,117,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after buying an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,619,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,021,573,000 after buying an additional 4,426,269 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 118.1% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,170,000 after buying an additional 3,429,929 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.