Welch Group LLC Increases Stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Welch Group LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 665,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,689 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive comprises 2.5% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Welch Group LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $60,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,009,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,186,651,000 after buying an additional 5,269,140 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 1st quarter valued at about $217,593,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,762,000 after buying an additional 2,045,191 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,562,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,250,000 after buying an additional 1,727,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,336,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,957,000 after buying an additional 880,527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $86.00 price target on Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $98.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE:CL opened at $77.99 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.56 and a 200 day moving average of $87.84. The company has a market capitalization of $63.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.34. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1-year low of $77.09 and a 1-year high of $102.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 377.63% and a net margin of 14.55%.Colgate-Palmolive’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

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.