Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 36,346 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,007,211 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,346 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $80,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,195,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,559 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,452,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 305,862 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,590,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,644,000 after acquiring an additional 127,805 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 10.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,455,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,005,000 after acquiring an additional 500,916 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,629.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CL. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $91.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,541,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,968,951. 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 has a 12-month low of $67.62 and a 12-month high of $92.25. The company has a market capitalization of $74.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.54.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.