Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.3%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shares shot up 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $156.94 and last traded at $155.95. 6,103,296 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 0% from the average session volume of 6,114,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $366.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $159.20 and a 200 day moving average of $152.77.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.98%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $3,956,117,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,619,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,021,573,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 118.1% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429,929 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.