Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,807,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 406,094 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.82% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $1,346,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,193,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,095,325,000 after buying an additional 552,949 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $912,375,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $92.73 on Monday. 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 has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.52. The company has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

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 net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CL. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.