Ascent Group LLC Purchases 4,195 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 19.7%, acquiring 4,195 additional shares, bringing their total holdings to 25,512 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million.
• Colgate-Palmolive recently reported earnings of $0.92 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $5.11 billion, up 1.0% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.7%, with the payment scheduled for November 14th.

Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,512 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,195 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 valued at $3,186,651,000 after purchasing an additional 5,269,140 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 1st quarter valued at $217,593,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045,191 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,727,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,336,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,957,000 after acquiring an additional 880,527 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.83.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $78.01 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52 week low of $77.91 and a 52 week high of $102.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

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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