PGGM Investments Has $10.57 Million Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

PGGM Investments boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 132,609 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,184 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $10,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Avion Wealth raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 142.0% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at $25,330,892.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CL shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.01. 7,541,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,968,951. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $67.62 and a one year high of $92.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.66 and a 200 day moving average of $81.54.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company 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 $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 2.20%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.