Legal & General Group Plc Sells 1,294,360 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,952,572 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,294,360 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.73% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $541,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company's stock worth $7,391,261,000 after acquiring an additional 588,230 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,868,723,000 after buying an additional 324,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $912,375,000. Amundi grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company's stock worth $806,015,000 after buying an additional 1,040,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.67.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 2.4 %

CL stock traded up $2.19 on Friday, reaching $93.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,664,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,582,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30. The firm has a market cap of $76.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.57.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.09%.

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.