Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,149 shares of the company’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,193,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,325,000 after acquiring an additional 552,949 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in 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 worth $988,997,000 after acquiring an additional 557,492 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,674,807 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.16.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.9 %

CL stock opened at $89.56 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $88.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.44. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $84.45 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. 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 (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

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.