HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 49,628 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 850,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,628 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.11% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $68,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 11.0% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,047,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,681,000 after buying an additional 202,379 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter worth $5,373,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 422,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,758,000 after purchasing an additional 16,017 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,751,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,522,129,000 after purchasing an additional 993,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 248.5% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 87,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,909,000 after purchasing an additional 62,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock opened at $96.61 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.90. The firm has a market cap of $77.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.93. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 12-month low of $74.54 and a 12-month high of $100.18.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.13 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 353.72% and a net margin of 10.45%.The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 21st were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 21st. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 79.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CL. Bank of America upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CFO Stanley J. Sutula III sold 97,843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.27, for a total transaction of $9,223,659.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,214,073.70. This represents a 63.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Hazlin sold 20,989 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.25, for a total transaction of $1,978,213.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,663,041.25. This represents a 54.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 184,683 shares of company stock valued at $17,486,693 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company with a long history in household and personal care categories. The business traces its roots to the early 19th century and has evolved into a multinational manufacturer and marketer of everyday consumer goods focused on health, hygiene and home care.

The company’s core activities center on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its product portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash in oral care; soaps, body washes and deodorants in personal care; dishwashing liquids, surface cleaners and other household products in home care; and scientifically formulated pet foods under its pet nutrition business.