AIA Group Ltd Has $29.23 Million Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 366,667 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,046 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive comprises about 1.2% of AIA Group Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $29,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 90,253.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,974,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,627,000 after buying an additional 15,956,771 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $644,715,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 151.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,688,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,400 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,370,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,345,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1,915.2% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,793,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total transaction of $5,891,020.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,161,117.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.1 %

CL traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $86.68. The company had a trading volume of 3,260,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,529,646. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The company has a market capitalization of $71.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $86.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.63.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 69.06%.

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.