Balaji Purushothaman Sells 28,369 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.7 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $162.58. 7,216,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,971,658. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $159.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) 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. The business 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 company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 15,216 shares of the company's stock worth $2,469,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth about $224,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 32,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,197,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 87,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,132,000 after purchasing an additional 16,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,050.2% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 109,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,708,000 after purchasing an additional 99,649 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. 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. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.88.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.