Avior Wealth Management LLC Has $54,000 Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Avior Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 24.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $54,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Avion Wealth raised 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 purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 48.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 142.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock opened at $87.13 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.85. The stock has a market cap of $71.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $90.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 69.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $2,502,634.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,863,575.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at $25,330,892.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.50.

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.