BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 119,344 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 535,405 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 119,344 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.22% of Church & Dwight worth $55,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 147.1% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 449.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 37,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 30,614 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 89.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,783 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 1,474.7% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 233,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,379,000 after purchasing an additional 218,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,291,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,645,000 after purchasing an additional 61,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.65.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total value of $9,243,014.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $813,479.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Church & Dwight news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total transaction of $9,243,014.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $813,479.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total value of $5,847,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,775. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,346 shares of company stock worth $19,465,948. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Church & Dwight stock traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 998,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $26.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.52. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $110.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $106.68 and a 200-day moving average of $102.34.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio 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.