Natixis Boosts Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Natixis boosted its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 380.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,029 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 62,578 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $8,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Church & Dwight by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 193,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $768,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,915,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,794,000 after purchasing an additional 148,234 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at about $318,532,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,921,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,884,000 after buying an additional 298,848 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CHD shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.13.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 1.1 %

CHD stock traded down $1.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $99.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,777,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,543,295. The company has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.35 and a 12 month high of $116.46. The business's 50 day moving average price is $106.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % 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. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.