Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Raised to Buy at Freedom Broker

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Freedom Broker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $176.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Broker‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.18% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $166.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Procter & Gamble from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $166.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.90.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG traded down $4.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $161.21. The stock had a trading volume of 9,772,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,764,554. Procter & Gamble has a 52-week low of $137.62 and a 52-week high of $167.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.08 and a 200 day moving average of $146.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $374.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.39.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 31.36%. The company had revenue of $23.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.99 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CAO Matthew Janzaruk sold 359 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total transaction of $52,141.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,600.04. The trade was a 22.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Whaley sold 2,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.34, for a total transaction of $344,310.46. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,466,298.20. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,135 shares of company stock worth $2,189,970. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,862,105,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,216,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,988,999,000 after acquiring an additional 965,461 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth approximately $3,850,628,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $2,281,505,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,797,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,704,182,000 after buying an additional 300,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Procter & Gamble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Better-than-expected fiscal Q1 results: P&G reported adjusted EPS of $2.00 versus the $1.89 consensus, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $23.28 billion, exceeding estimates of about $22.8 billion. Organic sales also increased 4%, supported by 2.4 percentage points of volume growth, favorable product mix and productivity savings. Procter & Gamble earnings beat as sales rise 4%
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised targets: Citigroup lifted its target to $187 and assigned a Buy rating, BNP Paribas Exane raised its target to $189 with an Outperform rating, and JPMorgan increased its target to $180 with an Overweight rating. TD Cowen also raised its target to $166, although it maintained a Hold rating. Analyst targets and turnaround outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Defensive and income appeal: P&G’s scale, diversified household-products portfolio and 70-year record of consecutive dividend increases continue to support demand from defensive and income-oriented investors. P&G’s 70-year dividend record
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance was mixed: P&G forecasts fiscal 2027 EPS of $6.89–$7.11, broadly consistent with the $6.98 consensus. Its $86.0–$87.7 billion revenue outlook was raised partly because of the Thorne acquisition but remains below analysts’ $88.8 billion expectation.
• Negative Sentiment: Commodity inflation threatens margins: Higher oil, raw-material, energy and transportation costs are expected to create a larger annual profit headwind. Analysts caution that pricing and productivity improvements may not fully offset the pressure, leaving the durability of the recovery uncertain. P&G flags higher commodity costs

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) is a global consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets branded products used in households and personal care. Its portfolio includes personal health and grooming products, beauty and skin care items, baby, feminine and family care products, fabric and home care products, and oral care products.

The company’s well-known brands include Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Crest, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Olay, Old Spice, Dawn, Febreze and Mr.