Bank of America Corp DE Cuts Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,552,141 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229,843 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $162,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Read bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.07 per share, with a total value of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,845.35. The trade was a 119.76 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CHD shares. TD Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE CHD opened at $91.59 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $91.08 and a one year high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.50.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Church & Dwight’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.64%.

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.