Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Increases Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 256.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,372 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,463 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 111.1% in the 1st quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 266 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $91.75. 3,300,939 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,804,615. The company's fifty day moving average price is $90.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.37. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released 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. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 461.04%. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.69.

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.