Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 12,300 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,993 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $10,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $839,472,000 after buying an additional 429,863 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,295,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,830,000 after buying an additional 21,607 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Church & Dwight by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,399,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,556,000 after buying an additional 16,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased 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 valued at $115,832,000 after acquiring an additional 431,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Church & Dwight stock opened at $105.40 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.35 and a 200-day moving average of $104.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.35 and a 52 week high of $113.50.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results 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 firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. This represents a 78.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total value of $1,061,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,522 shares of company stock valued at $5,487,555. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CHD shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.47.

Church & Dwight 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, 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.