Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Should You Buy?

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) was up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $145.57 and last traded at $144.7630. Approximately 11,373,045 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 11,696,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $142.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $156.00 to $179.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.06.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $335.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.88.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. 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 net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were given a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 95,903 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.15, for a total transaction of $14,495,738.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,607 shares in the company, valued at $27,601,048.05. The trade was a 34.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $2,056,296.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,026,158.09. This trade represents a 50.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 348,618 shares of company stock worth $55,462,643 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Carson Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 6,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Emprise Bank boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.5% in the third quarter. Emprise Bank now owns 2,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.