58,834 Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 555,154 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,834 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $47,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 13,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $678,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 32.6% in the third quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd now owns 11,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cushing Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 8.5% during the third quarter. Cushing Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on CL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (up from $88.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group set a $106.00 price target on Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Evercore upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL opened at $93.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $74.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.13 and its 200-day moving average is $89.22. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 12-month low of $74.54 and a 12-month high of $99.33.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 9.68% and a return on equity of 464.63%. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 84.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel Wallace sold 161,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $14,801,050.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 362,231 shares in the company, valued at $33,296,273.52. This represents a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Panagiotis Tsourapas sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.05, for a total value of $920,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,974,137.05. The trade was a 13.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 175,191 shares of company stock worth $16,110,903 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a global consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, liquid hand soap, body wash, deodorants, household cleaning products and pet food and treats.

The company markets well-known brands such as Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, meridol, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Ajax, Protex and Hill’s Science Diet. Colgate-Palmolive also provides veterinary and nutritional products through Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which serves pet owners and animal health professionals.

Founded in 1806 by William Colgate, the company developed from a soap and candle business into a diversified consumer goods manufacturer.