Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after buying an additional 3,159,796 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,685 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,412,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded down $1.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $161.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,659,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The company has a 50-day moving average of $159.64 and a 200-day moving average of $153.57. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $164.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

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.