Colgate-Palmolive Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CL)

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 30,063 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 571% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,482 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $233,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,628,484. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,470.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 90,253.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,974,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,627,000 after buying an additional 15,956,771 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at about $731,843,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,133,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,561,340,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625,472 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 151.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,688,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,370,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,345,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $86.60. 2,040,988 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,513,894. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $67.62 and a fifty-two week high of $90.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.63.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.