Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,720,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the February 13th total of 9,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.
Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company's stock worth $7,391,261,000 after buying an additional 588,230 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company's stock worth $5,028,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 324,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 6.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,526,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $988,997,000 after purchasing an additional 557,492 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on CL. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.72.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.0 %
Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $90.30. 8,950,637 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,226,202. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The stock has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.
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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.82%.
Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
About Colgate-Palmolive
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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