Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $169.02 and last traded at $169.98. Approximately 1,036,995 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 6,657,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $170.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.75. The company has a market cap of $398.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,080 shares of company stock worth $14,629,038. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,730,000 after buying an additional 3,674,286 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the second 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,950,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.