Montag & Caldwell LLC Sells 74,574 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Montag & Caldwell LLC lowered its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,397 shares of the company's stock after selling 74,574 shares during the period. Church & Dwight makes up approximately 2.2% of Montag & Caldwell LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Montag & Caldwell LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Church & Dwight worth $12,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 26,257 shares of the company's stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 10,762 shares during the period. abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 281,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,611,000 after acquiring an additional 73,022 shares during the period. Crown Oak Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $10,142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 290.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,316,000 after acquiring an additional 41,804 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.6 %

CHD stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $106.91. 1,544,500 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,947. The company has a market capitalization of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $108.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.38.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is 37.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.