Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 30,063 call options on the company. This is an increase of 571% compared to the typical volume of 4,482 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total transaction of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at $686,470.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,863,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. M&G Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,942,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. &PARTNERS increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $86.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.67. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $90.37.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 509.75% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 71.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CL. Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.