Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 21,900 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lowered its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 188,874 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,900 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.08% of Church & Dwight worth $19,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,295 shares of the company's stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors raised its position in Church & Dwight by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company's stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of Church & Dwight stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $92.63. 1,229,389 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,569,865. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $106.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.99. The company has a market cap of $22.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.07, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.77 and a 1-year high of $116.46.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CHD. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.35.

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.