Empire Financial Management Company LLC Buys 7,500 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Empire Financial Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 45.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 23,836 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company's stock worth $7,391,261,000 after acquiring an additional 588,230 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,868,723,000 after buying an additional 324,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in 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. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $92.14. 2,389,828 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,482,145. The stock has a market cap of $74.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. 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 is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CL shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.39.

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.