Prudential PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC reduced its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 14.8%, selling 14,347 shares and retaining 82,400 shares valued at approximately $7.72 million.
• Colgate-Palmolive reported $0.92 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.89, with a revenue of $5.11 billion.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, reflecting a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 58.43%.

Prudential PLC lowered its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,347 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $7,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 328,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,724,000 after buying an additional 23,597 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 18,288 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,714,000 after buying an additional 2,585 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 31,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,971,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $217,593,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $85.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,150,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,238,334. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52-week low of $82.40 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The company has a market cap of $68.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. The firm 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CL has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of "Hold" 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.