Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Purchased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,641 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,969 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $21,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 21,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 18,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 6,350 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 9,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $644,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,970,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.16. The stock had a trading volume of 3,220,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,554,982. The company has a market cap of $70.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $86.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.58. 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 has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $90.37.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.32%. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is 69.06%.

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.