Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Lowers Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec trimmed its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,045,684 shares of the company's stock after selling 875,484 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.13% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $95,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth about $144,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,437,000. Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,482,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company's stock worth $863,447,000 after acquiring an additional 993,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,715,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,641,548. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $92.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.78. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management 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.