Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 85,346 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 791.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 96,136 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85,346 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $7,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199,660 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,728,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,436,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,468,000 after purchasing an additional 688,733 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 930,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 644,205 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 883,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,809,000 after purchasing an additional 577,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total value of $486,128.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,236 shares in the company, valued at $5,309,294.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total value of $486,128.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,236 shares in the company, valued at $5,309,294.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value of $5,891,020.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,161,117.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,048 shares of company stock worth $13,336,846 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.44.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $92.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,432,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,690,854. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.07. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $93.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21. The company has a market capitalization of $76.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.