Insider Selling: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) COO Sells 31,000 Shares of Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total transaction of $5,049,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,483.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $163.38 on Thursday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $164.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $385.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PG. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

About Procter & Gamble

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.