Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Purchases 6,200 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 50.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,532 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after buying an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter valued at $752,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 125.0% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 51,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,329,000 after purchasing an additional 28,518 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 50,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,258,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,514,000 after buying an additional 46,944 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $90.69 on Friday. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.30 and a 200-day moving average of $91.99.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given 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 2.29%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

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.