Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Given New $185.00 Price Target at Argus

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Argus from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Argus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.33% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.4 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $163.24. 3,509,064 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,927,018. The company has a market cap of $385.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.32. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $159.46 and a 200-day moving average of $153.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.