Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 395,697 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.5%, selling 395,697 shares and bringing its total holdings down to 208,356 shares valued at approximately $19.5 million.
• Colgate-Palmolive reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.92, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 14.55% and revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter.
• The company's dividend yield stands at 2.4%, with a recent quarterly dividend payment of $0.52 made to investors on August 15th.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 65.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,356 shares of the company's stock after selling 395,697 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $19,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,758,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,660,749,000 after acquiring an additional 455,198 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,269,140 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,045,191 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,176,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $672,447,000 after purchasing an additional 253,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,976,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,761,000 after purchasing an additional 177,833 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $85.13 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a one year low of $82.40 and a one year high of $109.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $86.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.35.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 377.63%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CL. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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