Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Stake Lifted by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company by 60.5%, holding a total of 2,336,783 shares valued at approximately $218.96 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several large investors enhanced their positions in Colgate-Palmolive, with substantial increases from Westend Capital Management and Cornerstone Planning Group, reflecting growing investor confidence.
• Colgate-Palmolive's recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.92, exceeding estimates, along with a declaration of a quarterly dividend yielding 2.5%, indicating a solid financial performance.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 60.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,336,783 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 880,527 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.29% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $218,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,758,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,660,749,000 after acquiring an additional 455,198 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% during the 1st 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company's stock worth $747,762,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045,191 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,176,598 shares of the company's stock worth $672,447,000 after purchasing an additional 253,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,976,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,761,000 after buying an additional 177,833 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CL traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,069,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,187,945. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $86.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a one year low of $82.40 and a one year high of $107.76.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 377.63% and a net margin of 14.55%.The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.43%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.