ING Groep NV Buys 2,841 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

ING Groep NV boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,731 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,841 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $3,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,910,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,740,665,000 after purchasing an additional 145,390 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,200,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,405,000 after purchasing an additional 217,047 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,783 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,310,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,982,000 after acquiring an additional 29,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,291,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,645,000 after acquiring an additional 61,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Brian D. Buchert sold 12,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $1,246,420.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $629,380.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Brian D. Buchert sold 12,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $1,246,420.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $629,380.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 376,972 shares of company stock valued at $39,133,366. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD stock opened at $106.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.10. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $108.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

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