New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,525,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240,723 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.19% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $121,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CL. Gimbal Financial purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 193,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,428,000 after buying an additional 102,361 shares in the last quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $1,636,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $375,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $80,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 19,272 shares in the company, valued at $1,628,484. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value of $5,891,020.56. Following 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 link. 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 value of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL stock traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $88.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,179,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,561. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $72.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.06.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 71.94%.

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.