Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 88,674 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,830,787 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 88,674 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $145,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 73.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 8,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 900,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,020,000 after buying an additional 10,446 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Finally, HTG Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.9% in the third quarter. HTG Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total value of $486,128.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,309,294.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,881 shares in the company, valued at $24,161,117.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was 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 owns 63,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,309,294.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,048 shares of company stock valued at $13,336,846. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CL. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.44.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $91.90 on Thursday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $92.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.08 and its 200 day moving average is $81.99. The company has a market cap of $75.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.08, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The company 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 company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 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 represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.