Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) fell 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $168.31 and last traded at $168.42. 948,791 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,126,514 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PG. UBS Group cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $395.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $167.74 and its 200 day moving average is $169.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,115 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.6% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 479,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,057,000 after acquiring an additional 29,799 shares in the last quarter. Country Trust Bank boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 293,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,908,000 after acquiring an additional 5,258 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 58,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,095,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.7% during the third quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 7,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. 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.