American Century Companies Inc. Sells 509,928 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 816,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 509,928 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.10% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $74,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at $348,718,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% during the 3rd 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. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% during the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL opened at $89.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.82. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

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.