Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 83,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 958 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $8,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the third quarter worth $104,795,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the third 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. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the third quarter worth $58,338,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 63.9% during the third 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. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,016,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,472,000 after purchasing an additional 429,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rick Spann sold 39,520 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $4,426,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,976. This trade represents a 88.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total value of $5,062,012.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,361.75. The trade was a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,424,351. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.53.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

NYSE:CHD opened at $103.81 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.62. The firm has a market cap of $25.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.35 and a 52-week high of $113.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.