Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s share price shot up 0.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $161.82 and last traded at $161.74. 1,080,421 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 5,758,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $380.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $569,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares in the last quarter. 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.