Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 65,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,535 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,028,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 552,949 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 6.2% during 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 buying an additional 557,492 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674,807 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $86.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $90.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $82.68 and a 1-year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 56.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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. Barclays lowered 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.16.

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.