Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 199,878 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,456,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 199,878 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.18% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $132,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at about $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE CL opened at $93.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $75.96 billion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.