Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Given “Neutral” Rating at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reissued their neutral rating on shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $160.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PG. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $176.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.64. Procter & Gamble has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94. The firm has a market cap of $415.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 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 earnings results 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 net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 87,979 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.40, for a total value of $14,991,621.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 300,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,252,400.80. The trade was a 22.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,360. This trade represents a 25.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,693 shares of company stock worth $27,311,345 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.