Northern Trust Corp Purchases 993,328 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.16% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $863,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,391,261,000 after acquiring an additional 588,230 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,723,000 after acquiring an additional 324,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $912,375,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $90.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.14 and a 200-day moving average of $92.05. The company has a market cap of $73.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Barclays lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.