Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Stock Position Lowered by GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lessened its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 699 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CL. FMR LLC lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,642,000 after buying an additional 2,674,807 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,411 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,091,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 864.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 777,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,749,000 after purchasing an additional 697,168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, CFO Stanley J. Sutula III sold 45,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.11, for a total value of $4,273,535.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 36,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,456,283.86. This represents a 55.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $86.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $70.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $82.68 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 405.81%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

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.