Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $4,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CHD. Certuity LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 29,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,069,000 after buying an additional 6,978 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at about $423,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,000. Finally, Wealthstar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,602,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Read purchased 1,100 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,584.10. This represents a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total value of $874,783.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,976. The trade was a 95.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,302 shares of company stock worth $6,362,338 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of Church & Dwight stock opened at $104.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $105.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.66. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.35 and a 52 week high of $113.50. The stock has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CHD shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.53.

About Church & Dwight

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.