Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 3,525 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. by 15.2%, owning 19,695 shares worth approximately $2.17 million after selling 3,525 shares in the first quarter.
• In contrast, GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its position in Church & Dwight by 12,489.8%, acquiring 861,895 shares valued at around $94.89 million.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.94 per share, exceeding estimates, despite a slight year-over-year revenue drop of 0.3% to $1.51 billion.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 15.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,695 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,525 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $2,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 855,049 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,639 shares of the company's stock worth $3,461,410,000 after purchasing an additional 750,575 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,504,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,018,552 shares of the company's stock worth $316,073,000 after purchasing an additional 393,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,743,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHD has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. 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 company from $100.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Truist Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.94.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of Church & Dwight stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $92.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,962,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,810. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.50 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46. The business's 50-day moving average price is $96.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.76. The stock has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Church & Dwight's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is 55.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In related news, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $1,451,340.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,360,953. The trade was a 51.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard A. Dierker bought 5,470 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.57 per share, for a total transaction of $500,887.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,491,802.84. This trade represents a 25.16% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,177,702 and have sold 35,915 shares valued at $3,545,300. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight 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.