Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Sells 8,300 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 186,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,300 shares during the period. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $16,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 20,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.2 %

CL stock opened at $90.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The company has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.38.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.72.

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.