Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,090 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $3,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 370,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,498,000 after acquiring an additional 74,337 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,115,000 after acquiring an additional 49,980 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CL shares. Raymond James raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $87.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.85. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. 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 is 69.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 59,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,054,629.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.