Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) CEO Noel Wallace Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) CEO Noel Wallace sold 20,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.26, for a total transaction of $2,005,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 359,700 shares in the company, valued at $36,063,522. The trade was a 5.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $96.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $90.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.97. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $101.18.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 607.88% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 97.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 94,195,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,635,889,000 after buying an additional 46,476,510 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,532,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,872 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,205,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $752,298,000 after purchasing an additional 88,917 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,637,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,722,000 after buying an additional 986,063 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 19.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,218,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033,918 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.22.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive is a global consumer products company whose business spans oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its products include toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, soaps, shampoos, cleaning products and pet food.

The company’s best-known brands include Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, Softsoap, Ajax and Hill’s Pet Nutrition. It sells products through retail and other channels in markets around the world.

Founded in 1806 by William Colgate as a soap and candle business in New York City, the company has grown into an international manufacturer of household and personal care products.