Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 173,801 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 604,053 shares of the company's stock after selling 173,801 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $54,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% in the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,584,000 after buying an additional 2,353,268 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,542,000 after buying an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $629,369,000 after buying an additional 1,816,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE:CL traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $89.56. 4,002,889 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,642,134. The company has a market capitalization of $72.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $91.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.38.

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

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.39.

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.