Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 24.3%, selling 32,302 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 100,399 shares worth approximately $9.4 million.
• Several other hedge funds have altered their stakes in Colgate-Palmolive, with notable increases from Hamilton Capital LLC (11.1%) and Voleon Capital Management LP (223.7%) during the same period.
• Colgate-Palmolive reported earnings of $0.92 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52, with an annualized yield of 2.4%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 24.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,399 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,302 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $9,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,269,140 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter valued at approximately $217,593,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 2,045,191 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 45.0% in the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,562,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,250,000 after buying an additional 1,727,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 10,601.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,105,379 shares of the company's stock worth $103,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,050 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,169,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,484,784. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1-year low of $82.29 and a 1-year high of $106.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.95 and a 200 day moving average of $89.55. The company has a market capitalization of $67.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.43%.

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.