Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Shares Down 2.6% – Here’s Why

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)’s stock price traded down 2.6% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $143.27 and last traded at $143.4990. 9,377,205 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 10,875,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $167.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.06.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 2.6%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $334.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.00% and a net margin of 19.16%.The firm had revenue of $21.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. Analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th will be issued a $1.0885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 24th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jon R. Moeller sold 162,232 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.45, for a total value of $26,354,588.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 319,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,884,093.25. The trade was a 33.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 1,809 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $288,463.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,818,083.90. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 252,715 shares of company stock valued at $40,966,904 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,664,783,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1,104.8% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 9,521,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,364,518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,731,126 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14,231.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,549,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,700,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524,876 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 237,459,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,030,358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,151 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,460,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $782,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.