Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $185.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $164.32 and last traded at $162.77. Approximately 2,044,863 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 6,908,812 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.60.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 235.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $383.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.46 and a 200 day moving average of $153.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.