Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,599,762 shares of the company's stock after selling 111,800 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.32% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $236,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.17.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CL traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.97. The stock had a trading volume of 5,172,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,442,951. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock's 50 day moving average is $91.92 and its 200 day moving average is $92.27. The firm has a market cap of $76.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

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

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.