AQR Capital Management LLC Has $285.26 Million Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,137,836 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,623 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $285,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company's stock worth $7,391,261,000 after buying an additional 588,230 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,868,723,000 after buying an additional 324,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $912,375,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company's stock worth $863,447,000 after buying an additional 993,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company's stock worth $806,015,000 after buying an additional 1,040,604 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $90.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $92.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.05. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are 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.

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