Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 366,667 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,046 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive accounts for about 1.2% of AIA Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $29,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. &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 valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased 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 buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.1 %

CL traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $86.68. 3,260,548 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,529,646. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $67.62 and a one year high of $90.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 69.06%.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,330,892.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.