Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 193,602 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,691,064 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 193,602 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.53% of Church & Dwight worth $3,213,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 969,006 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,295,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,830,000 after acquiring an additional 21,607 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,833,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,073,000 after acquiring an additional 220,829 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,681,000 after acquiring an additional 49,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,426,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,335,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 boosted their price objective 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.56.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

NYSE CHD opened at $104.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $107.49 and its 200-day moving average is $105.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a PE ratio of 44.16, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.