Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 0.5% on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $175.00 to $182.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $162.10 and last traded at $161.29. 1,582,521 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,886,571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.54.

PG has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Truist Financial upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.76.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Register Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the third quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Landmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $253,000. Key Bridge Compliance LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $1,198,000. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 111,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,208,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.6% in the third quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 370,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,974,000 after buying an additional 5,718 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $379.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.13.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.77% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. 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 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.