Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Given a $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) has been given a $96.00 target price by Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Monday, August 4th, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.33% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CL. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup upped 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 target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.92.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $84.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $88.76 and a 200 day moving average of $90.16. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $82.40 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CL. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,035 shares of the company's stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.0% in the second quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 12,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.4% during the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,877,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.1% during the second quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.