Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 41,731 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 55.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 117,244 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,731 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $9,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,457,294 shares of the company's stock worth $1,309,583,000 after purchasing an additional 112,177 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company's stock worth $1,195,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,559 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 90,253.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,974,451 shares of the company's stock worth $1,258,627,000 after acquiring an additional 15,956,771 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,470,409 shares of the company's stock worth $793,971,000 after acquiring an additional 50,040 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $644,715,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,432,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,950. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $85.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given 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 2.22%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised Colgate-Palmolive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,881 shares in the company, valued at $24,161,117.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.