Brokerages Set The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) PT at $180.45

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.45.

PG has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,080 shares of company stock worth $14,629,038 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PG opened at $172.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $405.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.44. Procter & Gamble has a 12 month low of $142.50 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $170.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.