Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,077,846 shares of the company's stock after selling 231,712 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $194,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CL. Personal CFO Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter valued at $285,000. Aviva PLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 114,855 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 1st quarter valued at about $322,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 67.4% during the 1st quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 8,905 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 3,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter worth approximately $2,166,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $87.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,320,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,852,643. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.44. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $70.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 461.04%. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

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.