Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.8% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after DA Davidson upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. DA Davidson now has a $209.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $178.82 and last traded at $177.76. Approximately 1,954,169 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 6,668,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.28.

PG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 269,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,203,373.80. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,233 shares of company stock worth $6,024,234. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after purchasing an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after buying an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,844,442,000 after buying an additional 105,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $422.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $170.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.