Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $161.75 and last traded at $161.35. 7,218,206 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 5,628,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.65.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.19 and a 200-day moving average of $169.46. The company has a market cap of $379.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after acquiring an additional 201,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.