Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Down 3.3% – Here’s What Happened

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s stock price fell 3.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $163.15 and last traded at $165.41. 4,333,107 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 6,943,431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 4.8 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $381.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after acquiring an additional 201,695 shares during the period. 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.