Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Trims Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. decreased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 846 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.9% during the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 11,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.4% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 43,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter worth $1,699,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 79.7% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 7,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 95.8% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 28,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after buying an additional 14,051 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE CL traded up $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $88.58. 4,014,765 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,556,424. The stock has a market cap of $72.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.06. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $90.37.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 71.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CL. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.