Investors Purchase Large Volume of Procter & Gamble Call Options (NYSE:PG)

Key Points

• Procter & Gamble saw unusually heavy call-option activity: Traders purchased 34,521 call options, 42% above the average daily volume.
• Institutional investors own 65.77% of PG, with major funds including Norges Bank, Vanguard, and Amundi increasing their positions.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $161.52 average price target, while PG shares recently traded at $144.61 and the company offers a 3.0% dividend yield.

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 34,521 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 42% compared to the average daily volume of 24,325 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,664,783,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,104.8% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 9,521,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,364,518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,731,126 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14,231.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,549,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $508,700,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524,876 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,459,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,030,358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,682,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,606,748,000 after buying an additional 2,222,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PG. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (down from $182.00) on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.52.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $144.61. 2,065,364 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,003,513. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $336.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $147.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.96. Procter & Gamble has a 1 year low of $137.62 and a 1 year high of $167.25.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 31.25%. The business had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.890-7.110 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be paid a $1.0885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is presently 65.71%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.

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