North Dakota State Investment Board Makes New Investment in Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 32,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,544,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 8,040.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,655,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,666,000 after purchasing an additional 4,598,789 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 46.7% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,077,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,719,000 after buying an additional 2,572,796 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 41.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 6,294,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,505,000 after buying an additional 1,850,412 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 360.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,126,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,972,000 after buying an additional 1,664,949 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3,896.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,189,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,955,000 after buying an additional 1,159,250 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.88.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $89.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.31. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52 week low of $74.54 and a 52 week high of $99.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.82.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 386.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 82.49%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company with a long history in household and personal care categories. The business traces its roots to the early 19th century and has evolved into a multinational manufacturer and marketer of everyday consumer goods focused on health, hygiene and home care.

The company’s core activities center on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its product portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash in oral care; soaps, body washes and deodorants in personal care; dishwashing liquids, surface cleaners and other household products in home care; and scientifically formulated pet foods under its pet nutrition business.