Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Purchases 302 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,298 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CL. 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 report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,629.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,048 shares of company stock worth $13,336,846. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CL stock traded down $1.32 on Friday, hitting $91.59. The stock had a trading volume of 843,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,634,898. The company has a market cap of $75.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.07. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $67.62 and a one year high of $93.25.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 485.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 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 an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 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.