Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 18,423 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 427.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,728 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,423 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674,807 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after buying an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,091,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 941.9% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,364 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE:CL opened at $86.10 on Tuesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $83.20 and a 12-month high of $109.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.16.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.