Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $172.96 and last traded at $172.51. 1,321,755 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 7,136,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PG shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.42.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $403.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $166.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.47.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.