Advisors Preferred LLC Cuts Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Advisors Preferred LLC trimmed its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 712 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CL. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 133.9% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 20,676 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 2,746 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 575,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,290,000 after buying an additional 69,982 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 391,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,547,000 after acquiring an additional 45,281 shares during the period. Finally, Platform Technology Partners raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 15,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.16.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL opened at $86.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.76. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $82.68 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $70.93 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.44.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

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