Brown Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 219.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 506,073 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 347,730 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.06% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $46,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 1.0 %

Colgate-Palmolive stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.91. The company had a trading volume of 3,846,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,624,607. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $92.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.58. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The stock has a market cap of $72.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.