Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Procter & Gamble shares fell 1.1% to about $161.80 after several insiders sold stock. CEO Sundar Raman’s holdings declined 44.48%, while Chief Accounting Officer Matthew Janzaruk’s fell 88.18%.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $170.57; 15 rate the stock Buy and 11 Hold.
• P&G beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 4% year over year, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0885 per share.

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 1.1% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $161.47 and last traded at $161.8020. Approximately 10,473,095 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 9,709,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.56.

Specifically, CAO Matthew Janzaruk sold 9,479 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,545,077.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,173. The trade was a 88.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Raman sold 38,253 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $6,311,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,745 shares in the company, valued at $7,877,925. This trade represents a 44.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In related news, insider Victor Aguilar sold 18,812 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.43, for a total transaction of $3,093,257.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 55,243 shares in the company, valued at $9,083,606.49. The trade was a 25.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PG. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. HSBC cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $149.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $166.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.57.

More Procter & Gamble News

Here are the key news stories impacting Procter & Gamble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: P&G has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years, a record that may appeal to income-focused investors. Dividend history article
• Neutral Sentiment: The company closed a $352 million floating-rate notes offering. The report provides limited detail on how the financing will be used, so its implications for PG are unclear. Notes offering report
• Negative Sentiment: Several executives and insiders sold shares, including CEO Sundar Raman, who reduced his holdings by 44.48%, and Chief Accounting Officer Matthew Janzaruk, whose position fell by 88.18%. Such sales can raise investor concern, though they do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s outlook. SEC filing for Sundar Raman SEC filing for Matthew Janzaruk
• Negative Sentiment: Analysis highlights a challenge for P&G’s premium brands: innovation and customer loyalty are strengths, but rising costs and value-conscious shoppers could make growth harder to sustain. Premium brands analysis

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.1%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.37 and a 200-day moving average of $149.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 31.02%. The firm had revenue of $23.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.0885 dividend. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is presently 65.51%.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,862,105,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,216,308 shares of the company's stock worth $14,988,999,000 after acquiring an additional 965,461 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $3,850,628,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $2,281,505,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,797,916 shares of the company's stock worth $1,704,182,000 after purchasing an additional 300,280 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Company NYSE: PG is a global consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets branded products used in households and personal care. Its portfolio includes personal health and grooming products, beauty and skin care items, baby, feminine and family care products, fabric and home care products, and oral care products.

The company's well-known brands include Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Crest, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Olay, Old Spice, Dawn, Febreze and Mr.

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