Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Stock: Insider Richard Dierker Sells 83,340 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Richard Dierker sold 83,340 shares at an average of $109.59, for about $9.13 million, reducing his ownership by 68.31% to 38,659 shares.
• Church & Dwight beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.92 versus $0.90 expected and revenue of $1.60 billion versus $1.58 billion; sales rose 1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3075 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.23 and a 1.1% yield.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) CEO Richard Dierker sold 83,340 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.59, for a total transaction of $9,133,230.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 38,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,639.81. The trade was a 68.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CHD stock opened at $109.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.45. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.49 and a 1 year high of $111.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.87.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.41%. The company's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a $0.3075 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is 37.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 1.5% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 7,254 shares of the company's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.3% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,692 shares of the company's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 3.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,222 shares of the company's stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 3.5% in the third quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,701 shares of the company's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Church & Dwight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have raised price targets and issued positive commentary. Wells Fargo reiterated an overweight rating and raised its target to $115; Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $117, while Citigroup and JPMorgan also increased their targets. Wells Fargo rating
• Positive Sentiment: The recent analyst optimism follows a Q3 earnings beat: CHD reported $0.92 per share versus $0.90 expected and revenue of $1.60 billion versus $1.58 billion expected. The company also raised its sales outlook and announced a $1 billion share repurchase program, supporting the growth and capital-return outlook. Analyst forecasts after Q3 results
• Neutral Sentiment: Several target increases came with neutral or equal-weight ratings, and the targets cluster near the recently cited share price. That suggests improved estimates, but not unanimous expectations of substantial further gains.
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays maintained an underweight rating despite raising its target to $89, signaling a notably more cautious view than other analysts. Barclays rating and target
• Negative Sentiment: Director Bradley Irwin sold 4,300 shares for about $475,000, reducing his direct holdings by 10.76%. He retained 35,674 shares, and the filing did not give a reason for the sale. SEC insider transaction filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.44.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and markets household, personal care and specialty products. Its portfolio is anchored by the ARM & HAMMER brand, which is used across products such as baking soda, laundry detergent, cat litter, household cleaners, oral care products and personal care items.

The company also markets a broad range of branded products, including OxiClean laundry and cleaning products, Trojan sexual wellness products, Waterpik oral health devices, First Response pregnancy and fertility tests, Nair hair-removal products, Orajel oral pain relief, TheraBreath oral care products, and vitamins and supplements sold under the Vitafusion and L'il Critters brands.

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