Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Up 0% After Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shot up 0% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $168.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $155.94 and last traded at $155.90. 1,249,459 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,802,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.84.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on PG. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.53.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,527 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,619,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,021,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 118.1% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,929 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $365.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $159.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.57.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.