Chemung Canal Trust Co. Sells 12,866 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 39.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,790 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,866 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $348,718,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $629,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,865 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $111,738,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 70.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,808,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $255,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:CL traded down $0.95 on Thursday, hitting $90.63. The stock had a trading volume of 4,531,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,847,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.37. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $90.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.54.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CL. Citigroup upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.69.

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.