Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Strategic Blueprint LLC

Strategic Blueprint LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,373 shares of the company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,444,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,376,000 after purchasing an additional 94,837 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 71.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 8.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,882,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,774,000 after purchasing an additional 146,936 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter valued at approximately $288,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.44.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $86.57 on Thursday. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $67.62 and a twelve month high of $90.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total transaction 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 approximately $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction 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 approximately $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,470.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.