Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock Price Up 2.1% - Still a Buy?

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $179.99 and last traded at $179.65. Approximately 2,664,386 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 6,350,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $167.16 and a 200 day moving average of $169.83. The company has a market capitalization of $395.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company's stock worth $38,524,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company's stock worth $9,457,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,419 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,928,107,000 after buying an additional 2,703,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company's stock worth $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.