Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Sets New 12-Month High at $164.81

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $164.81 and last traded at $164.81, with a volume of 2150 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $164.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $391.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $160.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.49.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $5,253,549.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,605,961.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,724 shares of company stock worth $19,312,729 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 115,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,858,000 after purchasing an additional 15,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 12,016 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.