DnB Asset Management AS Grows Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,817 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,744 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $5,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $318,532,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,157,000 after buying an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth about $104,795,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,542,000 after buying an additional 969,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,565,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of Church & Dwight stock opened at $109.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $107.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.95. The firm has a market cap of $26.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.35 and a 12 month high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, Specialty Products Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.