Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $99.74, but opened at $96.54. Colgate-Palmolive shares last traded at $96.90, with a volume of 1,351,419 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Hsbc Global Res lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 3.9 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $103.31 and its 200 day moving average is $97.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 470.19% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $5.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5 billion. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $240,228.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,874.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Panagiotis Tsourapas sold 14,794 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.94, for a total value of $1,522,894.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,729.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,874.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,486,063 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,067,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,698,096,000 after purchasing an additional 8,933,912 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,969,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,400,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593,313 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,785,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,465,000 after purchasing an additional 61,413 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 6,987,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,220,000 after purchasing an additional 278,150 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 108.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,682,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955,442 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.