Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Purchases New Shares in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. M&G Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CL traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.90. 5,286,250 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,616,837. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $92.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $75.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.92.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. Colgate-Palmolive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total transaction of $5,891,020.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,161,117.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the company’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 value of $233,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.