3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Main Street Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.5% in the second quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 6,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.1% in the second quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total transaction of $1,636,988.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,439,929.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,636,988.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,439,929.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 10,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.10, for a total value of $1,085,952.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,868.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,490 shares of company stock worth $4,486,063 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $102.31 on Wednesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.62. The stock has a market cap of $83.94 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 470.19%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.