HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Takes $1.27 Million Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 15,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CL. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.94.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $96.36. 291,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,407,897. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.39. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $96.46. The stock has a market cap of $79.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.39. 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. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Sally Massey sold 12,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total value of $1,149,977.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,309,691.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Sally Massey sold 12,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total transaction of $1,149,977.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,309,691.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Kooyman sold 3,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.47, for a total value of $326,864.59. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,181 shares in the company, valued at $297,328.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.