COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO
CL · Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations · 800.2M shares · -1%/yr ↓ buyback · EDGAR filings ↗
Net buyback after stock comp: $1.0B (gross $1.1B, SBC $122M)
Reference price $88.44 · est. market cap ~$70.8B — last insider sale, 2026-05-15 (estimated from the dated SEC Form 4 price × shares outstanding — not a live quote)
Grade
B84Top-decile-margin global staples leader with the world's most penetrated brand, tempered by a sharp earnings decline.
Strengths
- Margins/returns at the top: net 10.5% (100th), operating 16.2% (100th), OCF 20.6% (100th), ROA 13.1% (94th)
- Dominant Colgate/Hill's brand franchise with ~67% of sales international and strong pricing power
Risks
- Net income fell 26% year-over-year — a real earnings stall
- Extreme leverage (debt/equity 127x) and weak liquidity (quick ratio 0.54, 11th pct); ROE 39x is a low-equity artifact
Notable findings
- Exec changeRecent 8-K item 5.02 8-K ↗
- High leverageHigh leverage (debt/equity 127.24)
- Weak liquidityCurrent ratio 0.83 (<1)
- Customer concentration~45% of revenue from one customer/distributor — Approximately two-thirds of our Net sales are generated from markets outside the United States, with approximately 45% of our Net sales coming from emerging markets (which consist of Latin America, As
- China exposureWe also continue to monitor the impact of sanctions, export controls and import restrictions
- Insider sellingInsider selling — 10 open-market sale(s) by 7 insider(s) (cluster of 7 insiders, ~$26M, last 6mo) Form 4 ↗
Quarterly revenue
Last 4 quarters · from SEC filings.
Key metrics
Gross margin
60.1%
Operating margin
16.2%
Net margin
10.5%
Return on equity
3948.1%
Return on assets
13.1%
ROIC
37.7%
Revenue growth (QoQ)
1.8%
Net-income growth
-26.2%
Debt / equity
127.2×
Net debt / EBITDA
1.4×
Current ratio
0.8×
EBITDA
$3.9B
Tangible book value
-$4.6B
Cash & investments
$1.4B
Stock comp / revenue
0.8%
Insider transactions · last 18 months
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-16 | GRANT SHANE | Tax withheld | 23K | $90.66 |
| 2026-05-15 | Malcolm Gregory | Sell | 2.3K | $88.44 |
| 2026-05-11 | BOERNER CHRISTOPHER S. | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | Newman Brian | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | Nelson Kimberly A | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | HUNDMEJEAN MARTINA | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | HARRIS C MARTIN | Grant | 1.6K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | CAHILL JOHN T | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | Edwards Lisa | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-11 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 2.1K | — |
| 2026-05-07 | Massey Sally | Sell | 8.6K | $87.41 |
| 2026-04-01 | Newman Brian | Grant | 210 | $89.05 |
| 2026-04-01 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 266 | $89.05 |
| 2026-04-01 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 294 | $89.05 |
| 2026-02-23 | Daniels Jennifer | Tax withheld | 12K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-23 | Hazlin John | Grant | 13K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Hazlin John | Tax withheld | 6.1K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-23 | Daniels Jennifer | Grant | 26K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Malcolm Gregory | Grant | 6.3K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Malcolm Gregory | Tax withheld | 2.3K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-23 | Massey Sally | Grant | 17K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Massey Sally | Tax withheld | 8.2K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-23 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Grant | 39K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Tax withheld | 20K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-23 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Grant | 26K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Tax withheld | 13K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-23 | Wallace Noel R. | Grant | 137K | — |
| 2026-02-23 | Wallace Noel R. | Tax withheld | 68K | $97.10 |
| 2026-02-12 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Sell | 15K | $97.81 |
| 2026-02-12 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Option exercise | 15K | $76.41 |
| 2026-02-11 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Sell | 35K | $94.61 |
| 2026-02-11 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Option exercise | 35K | $76.41 |
| 2026-02-10 | Hazlin John | Sell | 21K | $94.25 |
| 2026-02-10 | Hazlin John | Option exercise | 21K | $76.41 |
| 2026-02-06 | Malcolm Gregory | Option exercise | 13K | $76.41 |
| 2026-02-06 | Malcolm Gregory | Sell | 13K | $94.91 |
| 2026-02-05 | Massey Sally | Option exercise | 16K | $76.41 |
| 2026-02-05 | Massey Sally | Sell | 16K | $95.03 |
| 2026-02-04 | Daniels Jennifer | Sell | 22K | $94.34 |
| 2026-02-04 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Option exercise | 98K | $81.78 |
| 2026-02-04 | Wallace Noel R. | Sell | 46K | $93.91 |
| 2026-02-04 | Daniels Jennifer | Option exercise | 22K | $72.29 |
| 2026-02-04 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Sell | 98K | $94.27 |
| 2026-01-02 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 333 | $78.66 |
| 2026-01-02 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 301 | $78.66 |
| 2026-01-02 | Newman Brian | Grant | 238 | $78.66 |
| 2025-12-03 | Wallace Noel R. | Tax withheld | 1.3K | $78.20 |
| 2025-12-03 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Tax withheld | 385 | $78.20 |
| 2025-12-03 | Malcolm Gregory | Tax withheld | 41 | $78.20 |
| 2025-12-03 | Daniels Jennifer | Tax withheld | 213 | $78.20 |
| 2025-12-03 | Hazlin John | Tax withheld | 156 | $78.20 |
| 2025-12-03 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Tax withheld | 221 | $78.20 |
| 2025-11-21 | Massey Sally | Sell | 1.2K | $80.89 |
| 2025-10-01 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 319 | $82.13 |
| 2025-10-01 | Newman Brian | Grant | 228 | $82.13 |
| 2025-10-01 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 289 | $82.13 |
| 2025-09-13 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Tax withheld | 900 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | Wallace Noel R. | Tax withheld | 4.8K | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | Daniels Jennifer | Tax withheld | 900 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | Hazlin John | Tax withheld | 449 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | Malcolm Gregory | Tax withheld | 152 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | Massey Sally | Tax withheld | 669 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | Parameswaran Prabha | Tax withheld | 979 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-13 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Tax withheld | 1.4K | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Tax withheld | 521 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Wallace Noel R. | Tax withheld | 3.0K | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Massey Sally | Tax withheld | 447 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Daniels Jennifer | Tax withheld | 521 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Tax withheld | 784 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Hazlin John | Tax withheld | 377 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Parameswaran Prabha | Tax withheld | 699 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-12 | Malcolm Gregory | Tax withheld | 89 | $83.28 |
| 2025-09-11 | Hazlin John | Grant | 4.0K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | Daniels Jennifer | Grant | 4.6K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | GRANT SHANE | Grant | 3.6K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | Wallace Noel R. | Grant | 28K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Grant | 4.8K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Grant | 8.3K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | Parameswaran Prabha | Grant | 4.6K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | Massey Sally | Grant | 3.5K | — |
| 2025-09-11 | Malcolm Gregory | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2025-07-01 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 264 | $89.91 |
| 2025-07-01 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 292 | $89.91 |
| 2025-07-01 | Newman Brian | Grant | 208 | $89.91 |
| 2025-06-16 | GRANT SHANE | Grant | 90K | — |
| 2025-05-15 | Massey Sally | Sell | 2.2K | $88.97 |
| 2025-05-12 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | Nelson Kimberly A | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | Newman Brian | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | HUNDMEJEAN MARTINA | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | Edwards Lisa | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | CAHILLANE STEVEN A | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | HARRIS C MARTIN | Grant | 1.5K | — |
| 2025-05-12 | CAHILL JOHN T | Grant | 2.0K | — |
| 2025-04-01 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 231 | $91.99 |
| 2025-04-01 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 258 | $91.99 |
| 2025-04-01 | Newman Brian | Grant | 203 | $91.99 |
| 2025-02-25 | Massey Sally | Sell | 8.0K | $92.02 |
| 2025-02-13 | Wallace Noel R. | Grant | 96K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Wallace Noel R. | Tax withheld | 47K | $87.75 |
| 2025-02-13 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Grant | 19K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Tsourapas Panagiotis | Tax withheld | 7.8K | $87.75 |
| 2025-02-13 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Grant | 22K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | SUTULA STANLEY J III | Tax withheld | 9.8K | $87.75 |
| 2025-02-13 | Parameswaran Prabha | Grant | 19K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Parameswaran Prabha | Tax withheld | 8.6K | $87.75 |
| 2025-02-13 | Massey Sally | Grant | 12K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Massey Sally | Tax withheld | 5.1K | $87.75 |
| 2025-02-13 | Malcolm Gregory | Grant | 4.5K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Malcolm Gregory | Tax withheld | 1.7K | $87.75 |
| 2025-02-13 | Daniels Jennifer | Grant | 19K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Daniels Jennifer | Tax withheld | 7.8K | $87.75 |
| 2025-01-02 | BILBREY JOHN P | Grant | 228 | $93.18 |
| 2025-01-02 | NORRINGTON LORRIE M | Grant | 281 | $93.18 |
| 2025-01-02 | Newman Brian | Grant | 201 | $93.18 |
All non-derivative Form 4 activity (SEC), newest first.
Notable events (8-K)
Recent filings
| Form | Filed | Period | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-K | 2026-05-13 | 2026-05-08 | 0000021665-26-000025 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-05-01 | 2026-04-30 | 0000021665-26-000022 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2026-05-01 | 2026-03-31 | 0000021665-26-000023 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-04-09 | 2026-04-08 | 0000021665-26-000015 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-03-17 | 2026-03-17 | 0000021665-26-000010 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-03-12 | 2026-03-12 | 0000021665-26-000008 ↗ |
| 10-K | 2026-02-23 | 2025-12-31 | 0000021665-26-000006 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-01-30 | 2026-01-30 | 0000021665-26-000003 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-11-10 | 2025-11-03 | 0001104659-25-109135 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2025-10-31 | 2025-09-30 | 0000021665-25-000053 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-10-31 | 2025-10-31 | 0000021665-25-000052 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2025-08-01 | 2025-06-30 | 0000021665-25-000041 ↗ |