Analysts Set The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Target Price at $181.50

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.50.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PG. Truist Financial increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $166.32 on Friday. Procter & Gamble has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $390.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 67.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

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

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Invst LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth about $1,632,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.