Tradewinds LLC. Acquires 5,705 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,831 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,705 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive comprises approximately 1.6% of Tradewinds LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Tradewinds LLC.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% in the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,584,000 after buying an additional 2,353,268 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after acquiring 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 Trading Down 4.4 %

CL traded down $4.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.75. 7,434,309 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,533,482. The company's fifty day moving average price is $90.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.06.

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.