Community Bank N.A. Decreases Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Community Bank N.A. lowered its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 404 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 399 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 142.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was 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 owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total value of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CL shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CL traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $89.39. 3,530,318 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,535,253. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.25. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The company has a market cap of $73.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.97, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 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.