Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Price Target to $158.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company cut its price target for Procter & Gamble to $158 from $177 while maintaining an overweight rating, implying roughly a 10% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $164.79 average target (12 Buys vs. 10 Holds), reflecting generally positive but mixed analyst views.
• Significant insider selling occurred this quarter—including CEO Gary A. Coombe—with insiders selling 348,618 shares worth about $55.5 million, and insiders now owning just 0.20% of the stock.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $177.00 to $158.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.01% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on PG. UBS Group lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $162.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $164.79.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.6%

PG stock opened at $143.62 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.35. Procter & Gamble has a fifty-two week low of $137.62 and a fifty-two week high of $171.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 19.30%.The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 15,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.28, for a total value of $2,461,625.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 44,735 shares in the company, valued at $7,259,595.80. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 36,093 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.33, for a total transaction of $5,858,976.69. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,994 shares in the company, valued at $5,680,576.02. This trade represents a 50.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 348,618 shares of company stock valued at $55,462,643. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 40,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,717,000 after acquiring an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Taylor Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 7,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 30,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,809,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble NYSE: PG is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world's largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G's product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.

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