Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Purchased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,918 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,849 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $6,447,000 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. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE CL opened at $91.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.29. The company has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 58.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. Barclays lowered their price target on 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.12.

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.