Montag & Caldwell LLC Takes $203,000 Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 7,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 132,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,570,000 after purchasing an additional 10,184 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 17,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,007,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,268,000 after acquiring an additional 36,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CL shares. Barclays upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.13.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value 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 $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value of $5,891,020.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,161,117.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $4,157,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $90.16. 1,615,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,571,905. The stock has a market cap of $74.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $67.62 and a fifty-two week high of $92.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 485.40%. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.