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The toothbrush aisle isn’t asleep
Colgate-Palmolive just got a fresh little “we’re taking some chips off the table” from Asset Management One Co. Ltd. The fund cut its position by 8% in the fourth quarter, selling 33,976 shares and ending with 388,316 shares worth about $30.94 million.
Why you should care
This isn’t the kind of move that sends traders sprinting for the exits. But when a sizable institutional holder trims a consumer-staples name, it can still matter — especially in a stock like Colgate, where the story is usually less “moonshot” and more “boring in the best way.”
And Colgate has had plenty going on lately:
- It beat Q1 estimates, posting EPS of $0.95 vs. $0.91 expected
- Revenue came in at $5.23 billion vs. $5.13 billion expected
- It raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53, up from $0.52
The other small drama: insiders have been selling too
The article also notes that insiders have been net sellers recently, including COO Panagiotis Tsourapas, who sold 15,000 shares at $97.81. Over the past 90 days, insiders offloaded 184,683 shares worth about $17.49 million.
That doesn’t automatically scream trouble — executives sell stock for all kinds of reasons, from taxes to portfolio juggling. But stacked on top of the institutional trimming, it does give you a little “hmm” moment.
Big picture
Colgate still looks like the classic defensive stock: steady business, decent earnings, and a dividend that just got a tiny raise. But today’s headline reminds you that even the toothbrush-and-dish-soap crowd isn’t immune to investor shuffling when markets get twitchy.