Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Stock Bought by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 112.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,990 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,287 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CL shares. UBS Group set a $106.00 price objective on Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $101.00 price target (up from $99.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.95.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock traded up $1.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.02. 5,775,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,409,072. The company has a market cap of $74.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.33. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52-week low of $74.54 and a 52-week high of $99.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.82, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 9.68% and a return on equity of 464.63%. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 20th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Cahill sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.37, for a total value of $389,352.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,649,187.01. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel Wallace sold 161,021 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $14,801,050.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 362,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,296,273.52. This represents a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 175,191 shares of company stock worth $16,110,903 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a global consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, body washes, deodorants, soaps, household cleaning products and pet food and treats.

The company markets many of its products under well-known brands, including Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, meridol, Protex, Softsoap, Ajax, Irish Spring, Speed Stick, Tom’s of Maine and Hill’s Science Diet.