Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Sells 97,500 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 52.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 97,500 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $8,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,391,261,000 after acquiring an additional 588,230 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,868,723,000 after purchasing an additional 324,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $863,447,000 after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.69.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $88.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.38. The business's 50-day moving average price is $91.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.69. Colgate-Palmolive Company 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 earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 461.04%. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership 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.

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