Choreo LLC Cuts Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Choreo LLC trimmed its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,934,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Church & Dwight by 9.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 28,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 456.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,232,000 after acquiring an additional 49,693 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total transaction of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,976. This trade represents a 95.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total transaction of $5,062,012.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,361.75. The trade was a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,424,351. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.53.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD stock opened at $105.98 on Thursday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.09 and a fifty-two week high of $113.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.72, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.45.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

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.