Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,951 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,651 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $700,642,000 after buying an additional 2,674,807 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,542,000 after buying an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,247,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 864.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 777,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,749,000 after buying an additional 697,168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of CL stock traded down $1.66 on Friday, hitting $86.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,136,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,243,346. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average is $89.53 and its 200-day moving average is $96.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.41. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $83.20 and a 52-week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CL shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.16.

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.