The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,760,000 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the November 30th total of 20,620,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded down $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $166.86. The stock had a trading volume of 938,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,677. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $170.47 and a 200 day moving average of $169.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $146.28 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PG. Barclays lowered Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674,286 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,230,000 after buying an additional 3,653,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the third 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. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at $301,950,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.