Colgate-Palmolive Slips as Investors Reassess Defensive Rally Ahead of Earnings

Colgate-Palmolive (CL) is down 3.7% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely driver appears to be a pullback after a sharp defensive-stock rally, rather than a single new company-specific headline. This could also reflect caution ahead of Colgate-Palmolive’s October 30, 2026 earnings report, with investors still focused on cost inflation, tariffs, and category competition that the company has already flagged as ongoing risks.

Details:

Colgate-Palmolive’s investor site lists its next earnings release for October 30, 2026, which can keep trading sensitive as investors trim positions ahead of results.

In its latest quarterly results, the company reported second-quarter 2026 net sales up 4.9%, while diluted GAAP earnings per share fell 5% to $0.86; base business EPS rose 8% to $0.99.

Management said volatile market conditions were expected to continue through the rest of 2026, and the company updated full-year gross profit margin and base business EPS guidance while maintaining sales and GAAP EPS guidance.

Its latest SEC filing said higher raw and packaging material costs, including tariff effects, were still a headwind, and also warned that competition and pressure on consumer spending could affect future demand and mix.

Sources:

Colgate-Palmolive, SEC, AP News, MarketBeat

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$CL Insider Trading Activity

$CL insiders have traded $CL stock on the open market 5 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 5 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CL stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

NOEL R. WALLACE (Chairman, President & CEO) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 322,042 shares for an estimated $29,698,616.
PANAGIOTIS TSOURAPAS (COO, CD, EMEA, APac, Skin) sold 10,000 shares for an estimated $920,477
JOHN T CAHILL sold 4,170 shares for an estimated $389,357
GREGORY MALCOLM (EVP and Controller) sold 2,300 shares for an estimated $203,412

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$CL Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 851 institutional investors add shares of $CL stock to their portfolio, and 853 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ removed 5,819,640 shares (-17.3%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $533,544,595
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 5,148,163 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $471,983,583
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 3,395,281 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $311,279,362
AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC added 2,886,409 shares (+162.3%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $264,625,977
BLACKROCK, INC. removed 2,727,530 shares (-3.8%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $250,059,950
PACER ADVISORS, INC. added 2,476,625 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $227,056,980
DIAMANT ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC. removed 2,331,614 shares (-98.8%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $213,762,371

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$CL Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $CL stock 4 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 4 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CL stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN HERN has traded it 4 times. They made 0 purchases and 4 sales worth up to $60,000 on 09/02, 08/31, 08/27, 08/19.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$CL Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $CL recently. We have seen 7 analysts offer price targets for $CL in the last 6 months, with a median target of $96.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Michael Lavery from Piper Sandler set a target price of $96.0 on 07/09/2026
Chris Carey from Wells Fargo set a target price of $95.0 on 07/08/2026
Cristian Rios from Bernstein set a target price of $96.0 on 06/11/2026
Lauren Lieberman from Barclays set a target price of $80.0 on 05/05/2026
Nik Modi from RBC Capital set a target price of $102.0 on 05/04/2026
Peter Grom from UBS set a target price of $100.0 on 05/04/2026
Andrea Teixeira from JP Morgan set a target price of $96.0 on 05/04/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.