Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $159.00 to $165.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $168.87 and last traded at $167.77. Approximately 1,653,278 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 6,465,882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.58.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PG. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares during the period. United Bank increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth about $824,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.5% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 61,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,680,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $393.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $168.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.47.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

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.