Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 717,390 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,228,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 717,390 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive accounts for 2.8% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.39% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $313,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Union Savings Bank grew its stake in 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 during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.11.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CL traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.99. 3,172,690 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,407,037. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $104.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.29 and its 200-day moving average is $92.30.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,636,988.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,439,929.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,439,929.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Panagiotis Tsourapas sold 14,794 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.94, for a total transaction of $1,522,894.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $529,729.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,177 shares of company stock valued at $4,245,835 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.