LPL Financial LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

LPL Financial LLC reduced its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 729,155 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,111 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.09% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $66,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,960 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 54,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 277 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CL. UBS Group cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $92.05 on Thursday. The firm 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 has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its 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 firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.82%.

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

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.