Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired 6,468 shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc., valued at approximately $712,000, marking a significant new investment in the company's stock.
• Many large investors, including Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd, have also increased their holdings in Church & Dwight, with institutional investors now owning 86.60% of the stock.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Church & Dwight, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.38, despite some investment firms lowering their targets.

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 92.9% during the 1st quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 270 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 42.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 378 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other news, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total value of $1,365,285.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,518,514.59. This represents a 35.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the executive vice president owned 5,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $506,845.35. The trade was a 119.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,575 shares of company stock worth $4,910,586 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Church & Dwight from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.38.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of CHD traded down $0.50 on Monday, hitting $96.73. 761,986 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,007,861. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.95. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $90.99 and a one year high of $116.46. The company has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.00.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.64%.

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.