Meridian Financial Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,596 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.1% of Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,065,000 after acquiring an additional 6,077 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, December 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.75.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.0 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $159.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $146.28 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $169.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.52.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.