Massey Sally 4

What Happened

• Sally Massey, Chief Human Resources Officer of Colgate-Palmolive (CL), exercised 15,851 stock options (code M) and immediately sold the 15,851 shares in an open-market transaction (code S) on Feb 5, 2026.
• Exercise cost reported: 15,851 shares × $76.41 = $1,211,175. Sale proceeds reported: 15,851 shares × weighted average $95.03 = $1,506,287. A derivative disposition of 15,851 shares at $0 is also reported (related to the option exercise/tax withholding).

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-02-05; Form 4 filed 2026-02-09 (timely — within the required reporting window).
• Exercise price / cash paid: $76.41 per share; sale weighted average price: $95.03 (shares sold across prices $95.02–$95.045; see footnote F3).
• Reported values: exercise cost ≈ $1.21M; gross sale proceeds ≈ $1.51M.
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the provided filing excerpt.
• Relevant footnotes from the filing:
  • F1: Options awarded under the issuer’s incentive compensation plan.
  • F2: Portion of sale proceeds delivered to issuer to cover option exercise price and related tax withholding (i.e., same-day/cashless settlement behavior).
  • F3: Weighted-average sale price; multiple sale prices within a narrow range.
  • F4: Options vested in one-third increments beginning 1 year after the Sept 10, 2020 grant date.

Context

• This pattern — exercising options and immediately selling the resulting shares — is a common way for insiders to monetize compensation and cover exercise costs and taxes (a cashless or same-day sale). It is generally a routine liquidity event rather than a clear bullish statement about the stock.
• No indication in the filing that this was a 10% owner transaction, a gift, or part of a 10b5-1 plan; the filing attributes transactions to standard option exercise and sale under the company’s incentive plan.