Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Given New $84.00 Price Target at Barclays

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Barclays from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 2.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. TheStreet raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.56.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $85.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.83 and its 200 day moving average is $80.31. 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 has a 52-week low of $67.62 and a 52-week high of $90.37.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares in the company, valued at $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 90,253.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,974,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,627,000 after buying an additional 15,956,771 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $731,843,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,133,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,561,340,000 after buying an additional 4,625,472 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 151.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,688,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,381,000 after buying an additional 3,427,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,370,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,886,000 after buying an additional 3,345,297 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.