Welch Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Welch Group LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 631,619 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,137 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive makes up approximately 2.6% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $57,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the third quarter worth $42,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the third quarter worth about $64,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.16.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $87.05 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $91.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $82.68 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.44.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.82%.

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.