Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,745 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,090 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,391,261,000 after purchasing an additional 588,230 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,868,723,000 after purchasing an additional 324,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $912,375,000. Amundi grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CL has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 4.4 %

NYSE:CL opened at $91.75 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.09%.

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.