Insider Selling: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) CEO Sells 21,388 Shares of Stock

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total transaction of $3,528,592.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.4 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.05. 4,579,411 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,870,830. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $166.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $160.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.49. The company has a market cap of $389.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 2.44%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.76.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company's stock worth $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company's stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company's stock worth $402,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company's stock worth $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.