Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases 3,378 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 100,827 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,378 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $9,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% during the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CL shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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, April 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL opened at $91.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $74.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $91.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.26. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often 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.