Norges Bank Takes $912.38 Million Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,036,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,375,000. Norges Bank owned 1.23% of Colgate-Palmolive as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $348,718,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674,807 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% during the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,268 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,028,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784,411 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.3 %

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $93.25 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.80. The stock has a market cap of $75.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 59.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CL. Barclays lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.06.

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.