Greenleaf Trust Increases Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,354 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,301 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CL. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Avion Wealth increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 399 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 48.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 142.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE CL opened at $87.13 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $67.62 and a one year high of $90.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.10 and a 200 day moving average of $80.78. The company has a market capitalization of $71.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.26 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.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 69.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were 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 $24,161,117.82. 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 three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.