Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,770 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,919 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% during 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 period. Amundi grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,015,000 after buying an additional 1,040,604 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after buying an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,642,000 after buying 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

Several analysts recently commented on CL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $90.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.27. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $73.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost 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%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.82%.

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.