Deutsche Bank AG Boosts Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,336,509 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 190,469 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.55% of Church & Dwight worth $139,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $639,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,426,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,335,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,232,000 after purchasing an additional 49,693 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $768,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 131.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of CHD traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.43. The company had a trading volume of 2,539,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,623,356. The company has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $116.46. 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 50-day moving average price of $103.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.42.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is 50.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CHD shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard A. Dierker purchased 7,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $94.66 per share, with a total value of $752,547.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,548,448.28. This represents a 94.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $506,845.35. This trade represents a 119.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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 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.