Evoke Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,119 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CHD. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during 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 worth $1,373,542,000 after purchasing an additional 969,006 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth about $76,565,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter worth about $58,338,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,106,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,832,000 after purchasing an additional 431,257 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CHD shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Church & Dwight stock opened at $107.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.81. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.35 and a 1-year high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.79%.

About Church & Dwight

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, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.