Saratoga Research & Investment Management Sells 8,477 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,467 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,477 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive accounts for approximately 0.6% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $11,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,315,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,066,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at about $803,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $92.73 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.52. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost 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 2.24%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 59.09%.

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

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.