Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $174.00 to $191.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $170.73 and last traded at $169.92. 2,428,094 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 6,666,199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.54.

PG has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,186 shares of company stock valued at $65,479,358 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,691,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,598,510,000 after buying an additional 733,440 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,161,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,705,000 after buying an additional 545,601 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,008,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,914,000 after buying an additional 79,665 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,706,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,066,000 after buying an additional 216,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $400.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 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 $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.98 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

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.