Empirical Finance LLC Cuts Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at about $104,795,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,542,000 after buying an additional 969,006 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,338,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 63.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,106,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,832,000 after buying an additional 431,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Church & Dwight by 5.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,016,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $839,472,000 after acquiring an additional 429,863 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $106.82 per share, for a total transaction of $117,502.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total transaction of $5,062,012.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,361.75. The trade was a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,424,351 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $104.49 on Tuesday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.09 and a 1 year high of $113.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $105.87 and its 200 day moving average is $104.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.53.

About Church & Dwight

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, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.