Alliance Wealth Management Group Increases Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 73.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,315,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $4,066,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $803,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CL. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective 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. upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.78.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.1 %

CL stock opened at $93.84 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. 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 has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

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

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.