Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 29,788 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 42% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,000 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,865 shares of company stock worth $9,009,280. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chronos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,950,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 5,611 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 47,573 shares of the company's stock worth $6,939,000 after buying an additional 2,658 shares during the period. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 21,401 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock traded up $1.58 on Tuesday, reaching $163.24. The company had a trading volume of 8,105,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,942,727. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Procter & Gamble has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $164.32. The business's 50-day moving average is $159.82 and its 200 day moving average is $153.91.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

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.