May 13, 2023 – First Eagle Investment Management LLC has reported an increase of 2.5% in its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the 4th quarter. The institutional investor now owns over eleven million shares of the company’s stock, making it their 11th biggest holding and accounting for approximately 2.4% of their holdings. The value of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s ownership stake in Colgate-Palmolive is approximately $869,053,000 as per their most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
While the news from First Eagle Investment Management LLC is positive for Colgate-Palmolive investors, a recent insider selling activity may cause some concerns among those looking to invest in the company’s stock. Director Stephen I. Sadove sold over twelve thousand shares earlier this month at an average price of $81.37 per share, valuing the transaction at nearly a million dollars. Insider Sally Massey another insider also sold more than seventeen thousand shares of CL at a marginally lower price per share the following day.
These insider transactions could have a significant impact on Colgate-Palmolive’s future stock price movements as insiders are typically privy to confidential information about a company that is not available to ordinary shareholders or potential investors.
Despite these activities by insiders within Colgate-Palmolive, trading volumes continue to remain strong on the CL stock with no significant fluctuations across various trading parameters. The current market conditions indicate that Colgate-Palmolive is poised for sustained growth in the coming months and beyond.
Colgate-Palmolive had a fifty-day simple moving average of $75.72 along with a two hundred-day simple moving average of $75.80 at the time of last reporting. With a debt-to-equity ratio touching high levels and growing institutional interest coupled with insider activity adds complexity to investors’ decisions.
The market capitalization of the Colgate-Palmolive is $67.67 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.52 and a beta of 0.49 as per its financial reports for the current fiscal year end. The company’s lowest stock price in the past twelve months was reported to be at $67.84, and the highest being $83.81.
In conclusion, investors continue to keep a close eye on trends affecting Colgate-Palmolive’s stock prices following recent insider activity by Sadove and Massey while looking for more concrete news from other stakeholders in the market for continued incremental growth opportunities in this market-leading consumer goods company.
Hedge funds increase stake in Colgate-Palmolive amidst mixed analyst ratings
Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) has been the target of much activity from hedge funds in recent months. Several funds have made changes to their positions, including Third Point LLC, which boosted its stake in the company by 481.9% in Q3 2022. Renaissance Technologies LLC also grew its position by 151.6%, while Two Sigma Investments LP and Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased their holdings by 512.1% and 1,915.2% respectively.
Despite some recent reports downgrading the stock, including TheStreet’s recent lowering of Colgate-Palmolive’s rating from “b” to “c+,” several others have upgraded it. Alongside JPMorgan Chase & Co., who upped their target price for the company from $81.00 to $86.00, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft also raised their price target from $80.00 to $88.00.
In other news concerning Colgate-Palmolive, Director Stephen I. Sadove sold over 12,000 shares for a total transaction of around $979,043 on May 3rd this year, with Sally Massey selling over 17,000 shares for approximately $1,399,117 on May 4th. This follows an announcement that the company’s first-quarter revenues were up to $4.77 billion compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion.
The news comes as Colgate-Palmolive declared a bumped-up quarterly dividend earlier this month at $0.48 per share as opposed to its previous rate of $0.47 per share and announced that investors of record on Friday April 21st would receive payment on Monday May 15th.
Overall the consensus among sell-side analysts is positive overall towards Colgate-Palmolive currently rated as a “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $84.75, and an expectation that the company will post a 3.13 EPS by the end of this fiscal year. Corporate insiders have sold 149,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,059,197 over the last ninety days with around 77.63% of the stock currently owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
Investors keen on the market are likely to watch Colgate-Palmolive closely in the coming weeks as analysts weigh in on previously anticipated growth possibilities for the consumer giant.