Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Stock: Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Increases Holdings

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 92,401 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,696 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $7,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 97.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 94,195,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,635,889,000 after buying an additional 46,476,510 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 8.1% during the 2nd 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. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,205,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,298,000 after buying an additional 88,917 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,637,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,722,000 after acquiring an additional 986,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 6,218,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $89.97 on Wednesday. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $74.54 and a fifty-two week high of $99.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.87. The firm has a market cap of $71.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.33.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 464.63% and a net margin of 9.68%. Colgate-Palmolive’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 20th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 84.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CL shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 price target (up from $99.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.11.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel Wallace sold 161,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 362,231 shares in the company, valued at $33,296,273.52. This represents a 30.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director John Cahill sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.37, for a total transaction of $389,352.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,649,187.01. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 175,191 shares of company stock valued at $16,110,903 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a global consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, body washes, deodorants, soaps, household cleaning products and pet food and treats.

The company markets many of its products under well-known brands, including Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, meridol, Protex, Softsoap, Ajax, Irish Spring, Speed Stick, Tom’s of Maine and Hill’s Science Diet.