Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Price Target Raised to $186.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $179.00 to $186.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PG. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $174.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.74. Procter & Gamble has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $177.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.69%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,570. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.