Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 413,134 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 312.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 545,551 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 413,134 shares during the period. Colgate-Palmolive makes up approximately 1.5% of Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $49,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company's stock worth $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 552,949 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,526,990 shares of the company's stock worth $988,997,000 after buying an additional 557,492 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,040,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.30. The company had a trading volume of 8,950,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,223,549. 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 stock has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.27. 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 released 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 net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. 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 presently 56.82%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.