31,109 Shares in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Purchased by Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 31,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,828,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $348,718,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,642,000 after buying an additional 2,674,807 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% during the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,584,000 after buying an additional 2,353,268 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third 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 during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CL shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL opened at $93.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.80. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, 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 (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

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.