Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $3.97 Million Investment in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,970,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CL. Raymond James upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.56.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $85.85 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.37. The company has a market cap of $70.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.