Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $152.79 Million Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,680,725 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 226,377 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.21% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $152,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.26. 4,650,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,656,198. The company has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $91.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.