Intech Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 111,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,838 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $11,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 8.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,739 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 164,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,209,000 after purchasing an additional 3,573 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research 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 company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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.com, Church & Dwight currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Church & Dwight stock opened at $109.38 on Tuesday. 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 Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.35 and a twelve month high of $116.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.77. The company has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 46.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight 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 owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.