Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Purchases 482,741 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 60.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,277,841 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 482,741 shares during the period. Colgate-Palmolive makes up approximately 0.8% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $116,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 20,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $91.72 on Tuesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $91.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.26. The firm has a market cap of $74.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. 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. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CL. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.