Balaji Purushothaman Sells 28,369 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $161.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $164.32. The company has a market cap of $380.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hourglass Capital LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the first quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.4% during the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 12,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.8% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 250,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,516,000 after purchasing an additional 18,047 shares during the last quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.6% in the first quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,183,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

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.