UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Sells 367,735 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management reduced its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 5.8%, selling 367,735 shares, and now holds approximately 5.93 million shares valued at about $555.85 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their investments in Colgate-Palmolive, with Price T Rowe Associates leading by raising its stake by 18.3%.
• Colgate-Palmolive recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.92 ahead of estimates, with a net margin of 14.55% and a dividend yield of 2.5% following its latest dividend payout.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC cut its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,932,254 shares of the company's stock after selling 367,735 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned approximately 0.73% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $555,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in 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 worth $3,186,651,000 after purchasing an additional 5,269,140 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter worth about $217,593,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company's stock worth $747,762,000 after buying an additional 2,045,191 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $521,250,000 after buying an additional 1,727,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 10,601.7% in 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 period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.2%

CL opened at $84.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1-year low of $82.40 and a 1-year high of $107.76. The company has a market capitalization of $68.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $86.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.69.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.43%.

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.

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