Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 776 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 776 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.5% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,192,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter valued at $2,637,000. Rodgers & Associates LTD purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 30,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PG. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Dbs Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 10,623 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $1,797,624.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,042,665.80. This represents a 30.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,597 shares of company stock valued at $53,268,499. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.5 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $169.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.33. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $399.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.48%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.