Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Price Target to $182.00

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $175.00 to $182.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PG. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $162.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $383.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.39. Procter & Gamble has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week 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.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. Dfpg Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.6% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after acquiring an additional 30,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

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.