Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,663 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,785 shares during the quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company's stock worth $233,584,000 after buying an additional 2,353,268 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company's stock worth $629,369,000 after buying an additional 1,816,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,405,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE:CL traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,338,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,754,608. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $71.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $91.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.93.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.12.

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.