The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $185.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $164.32 and last traded at $162.39, with a volume of 1786187 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $162.60.
Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.76.
Get Our Latest Report on Procter & Gamble
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after buying an additional 670,862 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company's stock worth $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company's stock worth $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.
Procter & Gamble Price Performance
The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.39. The firm has a market cap of $383.64 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.
About Procter & Gamble
(
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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.
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