Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $173.39 and last traded at $173.29. 1,014,029 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 6,691,155 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $402.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.49. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.