Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Price Target Increased to $85.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its target price upped by Barclays from $84.00 to $85.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $91.44.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $91.90 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.92. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $92.25. The company has a market capitalization of $75.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 485.40%. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.18%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 approximately $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 229,611 shares of company stock valued at $19,271,879 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Trust grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 6,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.