Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 220,326 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,978,685 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 220,326 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.49% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $361,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Infusive Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 744.9% during the fourth quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,056,000 after acquiring an additional 68,429 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 21,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 916,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,313,000 after purchasing an additional 15,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.17.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $95.49 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.36. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30. The firm has a market cap of $77.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 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 (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.09%.

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

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.