Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock: Insider Paul Gama Sells 4,331 Shares

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) CEO Paul Gama sold 4,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.27, for a total transaction of $698,460.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 46,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,546,307.11. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Paul Gama also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 5th, Paul Gama sold 2,225 shares of Procter & Gamble stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.34, for a total transaction of $323,381.50.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $159.97. 1,312,726 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,723,622. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.12. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $137.62 and a 1 year high of $167.25. The stock has a market cap of $370.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.39.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 31.02%. The company had revenue of $23.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.0885 per share. This represents a $4.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.51%.

Key Procter & Gamble News

Here are the key news stories impacting Procter & Gamble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raise targets and ratings: TD Cowen, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas Exane and Citigroup reportedly see meaningful upside for PG, while Freedom Broker upgraded the stock to Buy. The cluster of favorable views may support investor confidence. JPMorgan raises Procter & Gamble price target
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings exceeded expectations: Procter & Gamble reported quarterly earnings of $2.00 per share versus the $1.89 consensus estimate, while revenue of $23.28 billion topped expectations of $22.80 billion and increased 4% year over year. These results demonstrate resilient demand across the consumer-staples business. Procter & Gamble earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend appeal remains supportive: A retirement-focused comparison notes that both PG and Colgate-Palmolive recently raised dividends and exceeded earnings estimates, reinforcing PG’s defensive income-investment case. PG versus Colgate-Palmolive

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $27,862,105,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,216,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,988,999,000 after acquiring an additional 965,461 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at about $3,850,628,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at about $2,281,505,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,797,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,182,000 after acquiring an additional 300,280 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (down from $182.00) on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $164.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.57.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) is a global consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets branded products used in households and personal care. Its portfolio includes personal health and grooming products, beauty and skin care items, baby, feminine and family care products, fabric and home care products, and oral care products.

The company’s well-known brands include Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Crest, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Olay, Old Spice, Dawn, Febreze and Mr.