The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG opened at $170.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42. Procter & Gamble has a 12-month low of $142.50 and a 12-month high of $177.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $170.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 270,727 shares of company stock valued at $46,014,037 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after purchasing an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after buying an additional 830,476 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,844,442,000 after buying an additional 105,734 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.