Ethic Inc. Increases Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,606 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,475 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CHD. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $639,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during 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 period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company's stock worth $6,232,000 after buying an additional 49,693 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the company's stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 3,272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.07 per share, with a total value of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CHD. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 1.1%

CHD stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,654,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,618,063. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $103.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a PE ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. Church & Dwight's revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

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

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.