Calamos Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,837 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,101 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $12,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CL. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 370,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,498,000 after buying an additional 74,337 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,115,000 after purchasing an additional 49,980 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $87.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $71.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.10 and its 200 day moving average is $80.78. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $67.62 and a twelve month high of $90.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 69.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CL. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.50.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $4,157,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $4,157,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares in the company, valued at $22,797,983.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.