Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 35,010 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 736,891 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,010 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.30% of Church & Dwight worth $77,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $318,532,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock worth $768,157,000 after buying an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,565,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,504,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 63.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,106,131 shares of the company's stock worth $115,832,000 after buying an additional 431,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Church & Dwight from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Cowen cut Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.13.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total transaction of $1,365,285.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,518,514.59. The trade was a 35.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD traded down $0.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,431,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,656,493. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $116.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.15.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is 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.