Howard Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,569 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.16.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL stock opened at $90.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.44. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.73.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. 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.