New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 240,723 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,525,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240,723 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $121,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,055,000 after buying an additional 1,199,660 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,728,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,436,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,468,000 after purchasing an additional 688,733 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 930,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 644,205 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 188.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 883,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,809,000 after purchasing an additional 577,114 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $88.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,179,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,561. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $90.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.06. The company has a market capitalization of $72.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. 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. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.94%.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,629.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,629.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total value 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CL. Raymond James upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.