FIL Ltd Has $262.12 Million Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

FIL Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,883,236 shares of the company's stock after selling 936,054 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.35% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $262,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 45,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 928.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 45,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,695,000 after buying an additional 40,825 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 132.4% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 10,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 5,776 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 83,184 shares of the company's stock worth $8,635,000 after acquiring an additional 44,954 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,693,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

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Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 2.4 %

CL stock traded up $2.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,664,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,582,305. The company's fifty day moving average price is $90.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has authorized 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 generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are 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 paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CL. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.67.

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.