Swiss National Bank Cuts Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 769,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.31% of Church & Dwight worth $72,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2,087.5% in the 4th quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Church & Dwight by 74.7% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Church & Dwight news, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total transaction of $761,944.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,525,266.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.63.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.2 %

CHD stock opened at $106.11 on Monday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.25 and a fifty-two week high of $108.68. The company has a market capitalization of $25.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $103.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 13.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.87%.

Church & Dwight Profile

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.