Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Jumps 1.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) traded up 1.5% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $164.36 and last traded at $163.9920. 9,685,882 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 0% from the average daily volume of 9,731,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PG. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $166.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. HSBC cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $149.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $166.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $169.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $149.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.57.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $380.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $149.99 and its 200 day moving average is $148.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $23.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.80 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 31.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.0885 dividend. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.51%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Paul Gama sold 4,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.27, for a total transaction of $698,460.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 46,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,546,307.11. This represents a 8.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 3,914 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.34, for a total value of $568,860.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 65,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,536,920.12. The trade was a 5.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 58,647 shares of company stock valued at $9,268,508 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,862,105,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,850,628,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,281,505,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,480,650,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $335,908,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) is a global consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets branded products used in households and personal care. Its portfolio includes personal health and grooming products, beauty and skin care items, baby, feminine and family care products, fabric and home care products, and oral care products.

The company’s well-known brands include Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Crest, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Olay, Old Spice, Dawn, Febreze and Mr.