TrueMark Investments LLC Invests $417,000 in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 2.7 %

CL opened at $92.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.81.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 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 period last year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase 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%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

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.