Farringdon Capital Ltd. Buys New Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $909,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company's stock worth $3,213,661,000 after purchasing an additional 193,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock worth $768,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 148,234 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $318,532,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,921,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,884,000 after buying an additional 298,848 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.59.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $103.70. The company had a trading volume of 442,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,514,112. The stock has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company's 50 day moving average price is $107.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.35 and a 52-week high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from Church & Dwight's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

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.