Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Reduces Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 973,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,494,000 after buying an additional 114,855 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at about $311,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at about $304,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 685,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,339,000 after purchasing an additional 15,142 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $90.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.07. The stock has a market cap of $73.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.38. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically 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.