LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 184,695 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lessened its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 330,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 184,695 shares during the period. Church & Dwight makes up about 1.3% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned 0.14% of Church & Dwight worth $34,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,934,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 28,129 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 456.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,232,000 after acquiring an additional 49,693 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 3,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Michael Read bought 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total transaction of $1,061,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,002 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,315 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CHD opened at $112.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.46, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.38. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.35 and a twelve month high of $114.60.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.56.

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.