Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 272,488 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,008 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $21,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,195,785,000 after buying an additional 514,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,452,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,198,000 after buying an additional 305,862 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,590,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,644,000 after purchasing an additional 127,805 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,597,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,660 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,455,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,005,000 after buying an additional 500,916 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $233,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.38.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $90.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.80 and a 200-day moving average of $81.77. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $92.25. The company has a market capitalization of $74.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.42.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 485.40%. Colgate-Palmolive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.