Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $171.82 and last traded at $170.97. Approximately 828,397 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 6,684,733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.55. The firm has a market cap of $402.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 8.8% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 61,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,380,000 after buying an additional 4,969 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 65,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,793,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,460,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 38,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 202.0% during the second quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.