Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 30,063 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 571% compared to the average volume of 4,482 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CL shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.50.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares in the company, valued at $1,628,484. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director C Martin Harris sold 2,760 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction of $233,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Savings Bank grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Avion Wealth raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE CL traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $86.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,040,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,513,894. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.63. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $67.62 and a 52 week high of $90.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. 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. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.06%.

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.