Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,651 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 1,617.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,292,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,568 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 4,161.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,100,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,588 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 394.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 335,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,147,000 after purchasing an additional 267,801 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,358,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,668,000 after purchasing an additional 175,221 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Church & Dwight by 2,604.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 180,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,736,000 after buying an additional 174,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $110.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.22. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.26 and a 52 week high of $113.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.11. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total value of $31,152,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,704,740.96. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total value of $1,203,505.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,275.36. The trade was a 61.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 543,513 shares of company stock worth $56,795,253 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CHD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Church & Dwight from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.53.

Church & Dwight Company 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.