The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $171.74.

A number of equities analysts have commented on PG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus upped 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. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG traded down $1.28 on Thursday, reaching $165.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,831,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,522,896. The company has a market capitalization of $390.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $169.41. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.90.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company'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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after purchasing an additional 559,358 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,402,636,000 after purchasing an additional 246,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,539 shares during the last quarter. 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.