B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $35.91 Million Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 395,151 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 17,267 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $35,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 3.3 %

CL traded down $3.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.85. 3,722,017 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,509,685. 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 $75.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $90.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.37.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback 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 issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. 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, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.