Sarasin & Partners LLP Reduces Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Sarasin & Partners LLP decreased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,966,725 shares of the company's stock after selling 571,131 shares during the period. Colgate-Palmolive comprises approximately 3.0% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.37% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $307,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,877,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on CL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE:CL traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $90.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,158,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,690,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $91.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.