Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its target price upped by analysts at Barclays from $155.00 to $159.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 3.29% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $164.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $387.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. Procter & Gamble has a 12 month low of $152.06 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $168.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.36.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21,657,595.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $301,950,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.