Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Acquired by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,133 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,414 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $15,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,578 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,614 shares of the company's stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $15,269,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,028,600 shares of the company's stock worth $184,420,000 after purchasing an additional 38,824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $90.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.17. The company has a market cap of $73.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.38. 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 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has authorized a share 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 a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CL. UBS Group raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.12.

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.

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