Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires 1,151 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 35.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,362 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 56.6% in the fourth 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 period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 46.5% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $119.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.83.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.0 %

CL opened at $103.06 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $102.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.89. The firm has a market cap of $84.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total transaction of $1,636,988.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,439,929.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,942 shares in the company, valued at $1,439,929.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,874.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,490 shares of company stock worth $4,486,063 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.