The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Short Interest Update

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,760,000 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the November 30th total of 20,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $167.65 on Wednesday. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $146.28 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $394.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.38 and a 200-day moving average of $169.89.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted 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 return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

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.