Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $7.66 Million Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 791.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,136 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85,346 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $7,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CL. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,055,000 after buying an additional 1,199,660 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,728,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,436,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,468,000 after purchasing an additional 688,733 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 225.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 930,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 644,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 188.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 883,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,809,000 after purchasing an additional 577,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CL shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total value of $486,128.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,309,294.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,330,892.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total transaction of $486,128.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,236 shares in the company, valued at $5,309,294.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,048 shares of company stock worth $13,336,846. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $92.88. The stock had a trading volume of 5,432,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,690,854. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $93.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 485.40%. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.