Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 154,451 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 25,623 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $12,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $828,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 47,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after buying an additional 1,845 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 399 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.56.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $85.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $90.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.37.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 71.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.