Kovack Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,653 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in 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. State Street Corp raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,091,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,731 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 941.9% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.16.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE:CL opened at $91.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.51. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month 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.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

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.