Syon Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 89.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,394 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,501 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,559 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,452,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 305,862 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,590,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,644,000 after purchasing an additional 127,805 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 10.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at $686,470.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total transaction of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of several research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $91.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,417,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,608,002. 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 company has a market cap of $74.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.30. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $67.62 and a twelve month high of $92.12.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change 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 yield of 2.20%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.94%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.