Moment Partners LLC Buys New Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Moment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,391,261,000 after acquiring an additional 588,230 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,193,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,095,325,000 after purchasing an additional 552,949 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,015,000 after buying an additional 1,040,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted 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 worth $793,542,000 after buying an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:CL opened at $92.05 on Thursday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.81. 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 company has a market cap of $74.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.