Aviva PLC Buys 114,855 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 973,421 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 114,855 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $88,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $1,315,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $4,066,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $803,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $91.75 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

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

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 $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.