Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Shares Newly Purchased by Sanders Morris Harris LLC

Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 19,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,625,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 94,195,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,635,889,000 after purchasing an additional 46,476,510 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 8.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,532,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,652,000 after buying an additional 1,010,872 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.1% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,205,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $752,298,000 after buying an additional 88,917 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 19.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,218,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,090,000 after buying an additional 1,033,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the second quarter worth $567,483,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 3.2%

CL traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $92.80. 5,384,099 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,672,228. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.33. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1-year low of $74.54 and a 1-year high of $99.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.82.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 464.63% and a net margin of 9.68%. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, Director John T. Cahill sold 4,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.37, for a total value of $389,352.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,649,187.01. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 161,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $14,801,050.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 362,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,296,273.52. This trade represents a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 175,191 shares of company stock valued at $16,110,903. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $89.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.11.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a global consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, body washes, deodorants, soaps, household cleaning products and pet food and treats.

The company markets many of its products under well-known brands, including Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, meridol, Protex, Softsoap, Ajax, Irish Spring, Speed Stick, Tom’s of Maine and Hill’s Science Diet.