Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Bought by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,452 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,660 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at $62,728,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,436,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,468,000 after purchasing an additional 688,733 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 225.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 930,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,137,000 after buying an additional 644,205 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 188.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 883,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,809,000 after buying an additional 577,114 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value of $5,891,020.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,161,117.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,545 shares of company stock valued at $13,663,710. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.7 %

Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $94.09. The company had a trading volume of 4,639,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,693,216. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.78 and its 200-day moving average is $82.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $67.62 and a fifty-two week high of $94.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.44.

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.