Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Stock

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $155.00 to $159.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 3.29% from the stock’s previous close.

PG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.0 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $164.41 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.36. Procter & Gamble has a fifty-two week low of $152.06 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $387.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares during the period. 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.