Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Yacktman Asset Management LP

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,301,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned about 0.16% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $103,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 39,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 150,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,028,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at $364,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 note on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.50.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CL traded up $1.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $91.03. 5,700,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,585,494. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $67.62 and a 12-month high of $92.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.30. The firm has a market cap of $74.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.94%.

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.