Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Trims Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. cut its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,028,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $92.73 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.52.

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

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” 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 Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.06.

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.