Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 81.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,788 shares of the company's stock after selling 375,603 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $8,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $318,532,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,565,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,338,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,504,000. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CHD. UBS Group boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.29.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

NYSE CHD traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $98.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,754,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,550,163. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.35 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Church & Dwight

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.