Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Takes Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.5% in 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. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,831,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $87.69 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.38. 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 has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30. The firm has a market cap of $71.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.39.

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.