Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys 36,322 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3,529.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,351 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,322 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $3,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL stock opened at $92.73 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.61.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

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

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.