IHT Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

IHT Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,541 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,836 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company's stock worth $7,391,261,000 after purchasing an additional 588,230 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,868,723,000 after acquiring an additional 324,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $912,375,000. Amundi raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,604 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CL shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.17.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:CL traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,598,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,650,301. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.17. 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 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.