Boston Research & Management Inc. Has $5.80 Million Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Boston Research & Management Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,771 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive makes up 1.4% of Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $92.73 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $89.69 and its 200 day moving average is $93.52. The stock has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 2.24%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.09%.

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.