Bailard Inc. Acquires 317 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,192 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Avion Wealth increased 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC increased 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,470.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE CL opened at $91.01 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $67.62 and a fifty-two week high of $92.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.54. The stock has a market cap of $74.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. 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 presently 71.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. TheStreet upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

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.