Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 226,301 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,919 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $20,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,728,000 after buying an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 928.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 45,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,695,000 after acquiring an additional 40,825 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 10,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 5,776 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 117.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 83,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,635,000 after purchasing an additional 44,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter valued at $2,693,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 2.7 %

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $89.21 on Tuesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $72.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.04.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.06.

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.