Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,747 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,362 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $6,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,660 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,728,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,436,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,468,000 after buying an additional 688,733 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 225.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 930,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,137,000 after acquiring an additional 644,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 188.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 883,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,809,000 after acquiring an additional 577,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CL has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value of $5,891,020.56. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,048 shares of company stock valued at $13,336,846 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL opened at $92.88 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $93.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.21. The stock has a market cap of $76.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio 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.