Hancock Whitney Corp Lowers Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 109,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 963 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $17,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PG. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 84,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,390 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 23,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,669,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,276,000. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target for the company. Dbs Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $174.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $177.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.