Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,886 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. &PARTNERS lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.7% during the third quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 5,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $93.18. 3,181,735 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,673,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.06. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $67.62 and a 12-month high of $93.30. The company has a market cap of $76.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.49.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total transaction of $486,128.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 63,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,309,294.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value of $5,891,020.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,161,117.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total value of $486,128.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,309,294.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,048 shares of company stock valued at $13,336,846. Insiders own 0.37% 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.