Abbrea Capital LLC Trims Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Abbrea Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $3,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. &PARTNERS grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 5,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 5,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at $686,470.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, 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. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $91.01. 7,417,211 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,608,002. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $67.62 and a one year high of $92.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.81 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.94%.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.