D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 1,971 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 104,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,971 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $9,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,246,000 after acquiring an additional 40,324 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 314.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,993 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 52.0% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% during the third quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,688,000 after acquiring an additional 10,281 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 8.8% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 3,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $86.41 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.39 and a 200-day moving average of $96.22. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $83.70 and a one year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.16.

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.