Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 11,106 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Stevens Capital Management LP lessened its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 41.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,106 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.9% during the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 11,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 43,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 79.7% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 7,258 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 95.8% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 28,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 14,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, TheStreet raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $91.01. The stock had a trading volume of 7,417,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,608,007. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $92.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $74.81 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.94%.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, 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 value of $5,891,020.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,881 shares in the company, valued at $24,161,117.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 286,881 shares in the company, valued at $24,161,117.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total value of $5,172,857.69. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.