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

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 30,063 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 571% compared to the average volume of 4,482 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total transaction of $2,502,634.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 69,948 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.22, for a total transaction of $5,891,020.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,161,117.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at $25,330,892.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,894,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,368,378,000 after purchasing an additional 416,853 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,133,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,561,340,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625,472 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,457,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,583,000 after purchasing an additional 112,177 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,815,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 90,253.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,974,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,627,000 after buying an additional 15,956,771 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of CL opened at $86.70 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.67. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $90.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CL shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Three investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.50.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.