Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares traded up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $161.75 and last traded at $161.39. 2,283,755 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 6,362,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.65.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $379.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.48%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $569,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,065,000 after acquiring an additional 6,077 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after acquiring an additional 201,695 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.