Unigestion Holding SA Reduces Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Unigestion Holding SA reduced its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 60.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,265 shares of the company's stock after selling 188,267 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $11,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the company's stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 973,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,494,000 after buying an additional 114,855 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $311,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $304,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 685,718 shares of the company's stock worth $62,339,000 after buying an additional 15,142 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE CL traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $90.04. The stock had a trading volume of 5,106,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,701,832. The firm's 50 day moving average is $91.92 and its 200 day moving average is $91.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. Wall Street Zen cut Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.