Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 35.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,511 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,318 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Church & Dwight worth $15,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth about $318,532,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $768,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 12,489.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 861,895 shares of the company's stock worth $94,886,000 after acquiring an additional 855,049 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,565,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,504,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CHD traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $94.84. 3,093,647 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,764,965. The company has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.52. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $90.99 and a one year high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.16.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 9.52%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other news, EVP Michael Read bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.07 per share, with a total value of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 5,505 shares in the company, valued at $506,845.35. The trade was a 119.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $1,451,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,747 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,953. The trade was a 51.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,575 shares of company stock worth $4,910,586. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CHD shares. Bank of America raised Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.29.

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.