Unigestion Holding SA Trims Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Unigestion Holding SA lessened its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 313,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,524 shares during the period. Colgate-Palmolive comprises approximately 1.6% of Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $28,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 4.4 %

CL stock opened at $91.75 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.20. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.