Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 168,921 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,964,564 shares of the company’s stock after selling 168,921 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $269,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $87.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $71.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.87 and its 200-day moving average is $91.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.