Fundsmith LLP Sells 25,654 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Fundsmith LLP lessened its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,857,121 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,654 shares during the period. Church & Dwight makes up approximately 3.1% of Fundsmith LLP's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Fundsmith LLP owned approximately 2.80% of Church & Dwight worth $718,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Church & Dwight by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 53,121 shares of the company's stock worth $5,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 4,491 shares of the company's stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CHD traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.12. The company had a trading volume of 3,654,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,235. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.50. The stock has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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 issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.64%.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.13.

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.