Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 430,779 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,623 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $41,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4,971.4% during the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE:CL opened at $106.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $87.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $101.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 470.19%. The firm had revenue of $5.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,874.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,874.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total transaction of $1,636,988.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,439,929.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,486,063. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.