Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.3% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) were up 0.3% on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $159.64 and last traded at $159.33. Approximately 1,295,809 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 6,145,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.84.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, December 27th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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, UBS Group lowered their target price 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.05.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $378.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after acquiring an additional 830,476 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.