Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 504,688 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board significantly reduced its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company by 66.0%, selling over 500,000 shares in the first quarter, resulting in holdings valued at approximately $24.3 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Colgate-Palmolive, with recent target price adjustments; Citigroup set a target of $105.00 while Morgan Stanley lowered theirs to $96.00, indicating a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Colgate-Palmolive recently reported a quarterly earnings of $0.92 per share, above estimates, with revenues increasing by 1.0% year-over-year, reflecting a strong financial performance despite market fluctuations.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 66.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,516 shares of the company's stock after selling 504,688 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $24,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% in the first 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 buying an additional 5,269,140 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter valued at about $217,593,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,762,000 after buying an additional 2,045,191 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company's stock worth $629,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 45.0% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,562,968 shares of the company's stock worth $521,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727,105 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:CL traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $83.67. The stock had a trading volume of 6,202,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,214,231. The business's 50 day moving average is $86.90 and its 200-day moving average is $89.76. 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 Company has a one year low of $82.40 and a one year high of $109.30. The company has a market cap of $67.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.35.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Barclays upped their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.92.

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.