Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 164.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,057 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,573 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $2,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 3,662 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth $23,250,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 26,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 10,783 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,213,000 after purchasing an additional 19,246 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CHD. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Argus upgraded Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $451,551.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total value of $761,944.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,525,266.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of CHD stock opened at $103.20 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.25 and a fifty-two week high of $105.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 37.17%.

Church & Dwight Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.