Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 30,267 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 965,984 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,267 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $90,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,578 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $186,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 295.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the company's stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 12,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $132,405,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.69.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $93.38. The stock had a trading volume of 5,794,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,816,411. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.53.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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.