Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 1,220 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Wambolt & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,220 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 132,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,064,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 211.9% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 209,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,070,000 after acquiring an additional 142,510 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 18,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,435,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,286,000 after purchasing an additional 161,802 shares during the period. Finally, Prospect Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $232,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 1.5 %

CL opened at $89.52 on Wednesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.82.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 56.82%.

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

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.