Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 273,649 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 81.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 273,649 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 224.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In related news, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total transaction of $1,203,505.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,129 shares in the company, valued at $740,275.36. This represents a 61.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of Church & Dwight 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,976. This trade represents a 95.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 593,035 shares of company stock valued at $62,282,808 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on CHD shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $124.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.61.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD opened at $106.42 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a PE ratio of 47.72, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.86 and its 200 day moving average is $104.05. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.09 and a 52 week high of $113.50.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.2838 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.67%.

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.