Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price dropped 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $167.50 and last traded at $168.63. Approximately 3,433,326 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 6,676,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PG. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $170.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.74. The company has a market capitalization of $399.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 69.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,080 shares of company stock worth $14,629,038. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% in 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 buying an additional 3,674,286 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,653,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 valued at $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $301,950,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.