The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $175.79.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,332,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $17,696,000. Campbell Wealth Management lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 29.0% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 43,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,010,000 after buying an additional 9,716 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 115,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,858,000 after acquiring an additional 15,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 52,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,743,000 after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

PG stock opened at $170.03 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $167.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.89. Procter & Gamble has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $171.89. The firm has a market cap of $401.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

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.