OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,478 shares of the company's stock after selling 80,762 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $4,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CL. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the company's stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,315,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,066,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $803,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings 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 worth $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.72.

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Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,950,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,226,202. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $89.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.18. The company has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is currently 56.82%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.