Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,037 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,572 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $3,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CHD opened at $91.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.08 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.03 and a 200 day moving average of $105.52.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. Church & Dwight's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.64%.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total value of $1,365,285.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,518,514.59. This represents a 35.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.07 per share, for a total transaction of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $506,845.35. This represents a 119.76 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CHD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Company 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 Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.

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