Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,028,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,193,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,325,000 after purchasing an additional 552,949 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,604 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during 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, FMR LLC lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,642,000 after buying an additional 2,674,807 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $90.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $73.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a PEG 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 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’s 50 day moving average is $89.40 and its 200 day moving average is $93.95.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, 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 initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CL shares. UBS Group cut 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. Barclays decreased 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 note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.72.

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.