Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 13,107 Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CHD. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $652,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 2,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,967,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 619,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,574,000 after purchasing an additional 86,045 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 168.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 377,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,719,000 after purchasing an additional 236,966 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CHD shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $101.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $116.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.58.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE CHD opened at $102.61 on Thursday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.25 and a 12-month high of $110.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.54.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 13.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 59,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.37, for a total value of $5,895,423.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at $429,179.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Church & Dwight

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.