JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 8,450 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lowered its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 465,390 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,450 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned about 0.06% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $42,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $87.69. 3,699,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,644,691. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. Colgate-Palmolive's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.