Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $168.00 to $170.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $162.10 and last traded at $161.29. 1,582,521 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,886,571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.54.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total value of $4,844,497.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,602.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total value of $4,844,497.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,602.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 103,771 shares of company stock worth $16,292,467. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dfpg Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,184,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,699,000 after acquiring an additional 30,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $380.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.32 and a 200 day moving average of $153.26.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.77% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

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.