Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Cannell & Co.

Cannell & Co. decreased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 331,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,764 shares during the period. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $26,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. Certuity LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $242,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 45,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,638,000 after acquiring an additional 15,721 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,698 shares in the company, valued at $5,054,629.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total transaction of $299,562.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,629.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total transaction of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at $686,470.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 229,611 shares of company stock worth $19,271,879. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CL. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.44.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.75. 1,522,622 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,579,446. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $75.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $67.62 and a 52-week high of $92.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.92.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

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.