12,125 Shares in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Acquired by Meridian Financial Partners LLC

Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,000. Procter & Gamble accounts for approximately 1.2% of Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.95.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $167.89. 5,640,925 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,674,588. The stock has a market cap of $396.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $171.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,313 shares of company stock valued at $19,703,643 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.