Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Stock Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,791 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,682 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $17,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,409.1% in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. now owns 332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the second quarter worth $32,000. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 55.5% in the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the first quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Panagiotis Tsourapas sold 19,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.74, for a total transaction of $1,968,678.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,620.14. This trade represents a 68.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider John Hazlin sold 23,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.15, for a total value of $2,317,730.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,021 shares in the company, valued at $2,679,132.15. The trade was a 46.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 73,314 shares of company stock worth $7,212,109 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Evercore raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.22.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL opened at $97.95 on Wednesday. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $101.18. The stock has a market cap of $77.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $90.42 and its 200 day moving average is $90.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.23.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 607.88%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 20th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.14%.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive is a global consumer products company whose business spans oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its products include toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, soaps, shampoos, cleaning products and pet food. The company’s best-known brands include Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, Softsoap, Ajax and Hill’s Pet Nutrition. It sells products through retail and other channels in markets around the world. Founded in 1806 by William Colgate as a soap and candle business in New York City, the company has grown into an international manufacturer of household and personal care products.