Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 0.7%

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) was down 0.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $164.56 and last traded at $164.70. Approximately 1,422,124 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 6,750,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial raised Procter & Gamble from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $391.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $160.75 and a 200-day moving average of $154.95.

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. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. This is a boost 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%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, 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 transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,112 shares of company stock valued at $22,841,321. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company's stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,336,552,000 after acquiring an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,629,299,000 after acquiring an additional 346,925 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.