Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Erste Group Bank

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Erste Group Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $167.66 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.78. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. The trade was a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,240,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,846,560 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

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.