Wealth Alliance Buys Shares of 3,933 Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 370,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,498,000 after buying an additional 74,337 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,115,000 after purchasing an additional 49,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL opened at $86.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.67. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The company has a market capitalization of $71.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (NYSE:CL) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 71.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at $25,330,892.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

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.