Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Has $765,000 Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,564 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 95.3% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.6 %

PG stock opened at $166.60 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $167.97 and its 200-day moving average is $169.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.