Valley National Advisers Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Valley National Advisers Inc. cut its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 820 shares of the company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674,807 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,411 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,091,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,121,000 after buying an additional 1,247,731 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 864.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 777,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,749,000 after buying an additional 697,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $86.64 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $82.68 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46. The company has a market cap of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $91.35 and its 200 day moving average is $97.17.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 405.81%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 57.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stanley J. Sutula III sold 45,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.11, for a total transaction of $4,273,535.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,456,283.86. This represents a 55.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

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.