Heritage Wealth Advisors Sells 316 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Heritage Wealth Advisors decreased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $64,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CL. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 526.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 15.7% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 749.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 61,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 54,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 12,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 2.7 %

CL opened at $92.05 on Thursday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.81. The company has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

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.