Sone Capital Management LLC Invests $1.65 Million in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,646,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 588,230 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,868,723,000 after acquiring an additional 324,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $863,447,000 after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company's stock worth $806,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,604 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.9%

CL traded down $0.83 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.84. 5,098,548 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,658,181. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $91.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.27. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The stock has a market cap of $73.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, 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 quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.