Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $5.79 Million Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 104.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,684 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 32,582 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.17.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CL stock traded up $1.20 on Friday, hitting $93.90. The stock had a trading volume of 9,598,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,661,866. 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 twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $92.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.23. The firm has a market cap of $76.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is presently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication 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.