Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading 0.2% Higher

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $164.13 and last traded at $163.74. 1,272,301 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,880,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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 increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average is $159.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $386.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm 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%. Procter & Gamble's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble 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 directly owns 11,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,865 shares of company stock valued at $14,059,180 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dfpg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% in the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company's stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 12,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company's stock worth $2,298,184,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.