Meridian Wealth Management LLC Invests $10.07 Million in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 58,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,072,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $174.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.54. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $410.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 69.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 87,979 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.40, for a total value of $14,991,621.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,252,400.80. This represents a 22.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,693 shares of company stock valued at $27,311,345. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.