Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 324,683 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 324,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.51% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $1,868,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 63,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,705 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 16,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 395,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,909,000 after purchasing an additional 17,267 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Boston Research & Management Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 63,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,797,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of 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 shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.78.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of CL stock opened at $93.95 on Wednesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.35.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. 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 share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.