Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 801,900 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,740 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.33% of Church & Dwight worth $83,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CHD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company's stock worth $3,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 193,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock worth $768,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,915,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,794,000 after purchasing an additional 148,234 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,975,000 after purchasing an additional 20,887 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $318,532,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD stock traded up $1.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $94.17. 775,525 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,620,286. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $103.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.34. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $116.46. The company has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.64%.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.07 per share, with a total value 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 $506,845.35. The trade was a 119.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CHD. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Cowen lowered shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.