Bank of New Hampshire Sells 1,254 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Bank of New Hampshire decreased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,254 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CL. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 39,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 150,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,797,983.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $233,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CL shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CL traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $90.67. 4,669,210 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,572,197. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.30. The company has a market capitalization of $74.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $92.25.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.