Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Given New $96.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley reduced its price target for Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating, indicating a potential upside of 15.14% from the previous close.
• Colgate-Palmolive's stock recently traded at $83.38, reflecting a 0.2% decline, with a 1-year low of $82.40 and a high of $109.30.
• The company reported earnings of $0.92 per share for the last quarter, beating analyst estimates, with a revenue of $5.11 billion, demonstrating a 1% year-over-year increase.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $96.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.14% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $99.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.2%

CL traded down $0.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $83.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,866,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,261,091. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $82.40 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.59 and a 200-day moving average of $90.31. The company has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.35.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 377.63%. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,009,078 shares of the company's stock worth $3,186,651,000 after purchasing an additional 5,269,140 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter worth about $217,593,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company's stock worth $747,762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045,191 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $629,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,562,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

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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