Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.8% Following Insider Selling

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price dropped 0.8% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $169.77 and last traded at $170.46. Approximately 867,729 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 6,653,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.92.

Specifically, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 269,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,203,373.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $398.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 64.7% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.