Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Position Boosted by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 649,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,450 shares during the period. Colgate-Palmolive comprises approximately 1.5% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned approximately 0.08% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $51,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,457,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,583,000 after acquiring an additional 112,177 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,785,000 after buying an additional 514,559 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 90,253.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,974,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,627,000 after acquiring an additional 15,956,771 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,470,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,971,000 after purchasing an additional 50,040 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $644,715,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $233,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total value of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $90.05 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $90.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.06. The company has a market cap of $74.12 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.31.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.