Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 0.7% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price dropped 0.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $166.71 and last traded at $166.88. Approximately 952,649 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 6,730,623 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $170.62 and a 200-day moving average of $169.82. The company has a market cap of $397.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after buying an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after acquiring an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after acquiring an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.