California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 63,469 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,976,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,469 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.60% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $396,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CL. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,452,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 305,862 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,590,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,644,000 after acquiring an additional 127,805 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% during 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. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,455,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,005,000 after purchasing an additional 500,916 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded up $1.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $88.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,951,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,563,458. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $67.62 and a 12-month high of $90.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.93.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CL. Barclays increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.