Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 993,328 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $863,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 20,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 3.1 %

CL stock opened at $90.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $92.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.09%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.39.

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.