Norden Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Norden Group LLC has cut its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. by 53.1%, now holding 6,969 shares worth approximately $767,000.
• Various institutional investors have recently increased or established their positions in Church & Dwight, with a notable 12,489.8% increase in shares by GAMMA Investing LLC in the 1st quarter.
• Equity analysts have mixed ratings on Church & Dwight, with JPMorgan Chase raising the price target to $97 while multiple firms have issued sell or hold ratings.

Norden Group LLC lowered its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 53.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,969 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,886 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC's holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.7% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,325,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 42.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 378 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.5% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 687 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.2% in the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,476 shares of the company's stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director owned 27,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,518,514.59. The trade was a 35.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Carlen Hooker sold 6,380 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total transaction of $627,154.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,754.60. This trade represents a 96.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,575 shares of company stock valued at $4,910,586. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Cowen downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.38.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Church & Dwight stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.84. 2,537,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,044,784. The stock has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $97.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.82. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Church & Dwight's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is 50.64%.

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.