Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 588,230 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $7,391,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.0 %

CL stock opened at $90.30 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.72.

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.