Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $19.10 Million Investment in Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 208,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,096,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,103,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,754,657,000 after purchasing an additional 304,426 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,246,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,836,000 after purchasing an additional 323,367 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 8.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,532,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,652,000 after buying an additional 1,010,872 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $861,670,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,845,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $857,040,000 after buying an additional 2,746,920 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Twelve 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $90.97 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $92.00 and a 200 day moving average of $90.06. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52 week low of $74.54 and a 52 week high of $99.33. The company has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 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.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 9.68% and a return on equity of 464.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 84.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 161,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $14,801,050.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 362,231 shares in the company, valued at $33,296,273.52. The trade was a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director John T. Cahill sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.37, for a total transaction of $389,352.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,649,187.01. The trade was a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,191 shares of company stock valued at $16,110,903. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company with a long history in household and personal care categories. The business traces its roots to the early 19th century and has evolved into a multinational manufacturer and marketer of everyday consumer goods focused on health, hygiene and home care.

The company’s core activities center on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its product portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash in oral care; soaps, body washes and deodorants in personal care; dishwashing liquids, surface cleaners and other household products in home care; and scientifically formulated pet foods under its pet nutrition business.