Eastern Bank Invests $969,000 in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 46.5% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 150.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 2nd quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 10,533 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,069,868.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $240,228.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,874.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 10,533 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,868.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,486,063 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $103.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Colgate-Palmolive from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $98.98 on Thursday. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $71.46 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.31 and a 200 day moving average of $97.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $81.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 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.