Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Price Target Cut to $104.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $111.00 to $104.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.04% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CL. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.61.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $86.64 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $82.68 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.15. The company has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, CFO Stanley J. Sutula III sold 45,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 36,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,456,283.86. The trade was a 55.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 5.2% during the third quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.1% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.