Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares traded down 0.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $168.46 and last traded at $168.54. 948,185 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 6,654,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.05.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $171.48 and its 200-day moving average is $166.74.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 269,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,203,373.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the company’s 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 $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,194 shares of company stock valued at $65,140,718 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,477 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 114.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,716 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter valued at $233,788,000. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth about $228,212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.