Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $185.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $164.32 and last traded at $162.39, with a volume of 1786187 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $162.60.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PG. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 274,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,463 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the third quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.5% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the third quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 11,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,781,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $383.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

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.