Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,426,430 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 77,679 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.54% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $352,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,195,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,559 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,452,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,198,000 after buying an additional 305,862 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,590,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,644,000 after buying an additional 127,805 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,055,000 after buying an additional 1,199,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,455,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,005,000 after acquiring an additional 500,916 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,054,629.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,048 shares of company stock worth $13,336,846. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.72. 3,368,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,650,983. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $94.40. The company has a market capitalization of $76.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 485.40%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.