Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Cuts Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 48.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 142.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total value of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total value of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $89.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.34 and its 200 day moving average is $78.98. The stock has a market cap of $74.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $67.62 and a twelve month high of $90.27.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 69.06%.

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.