Sandy Spring Bank Trims Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Sandy Spring Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,542,000 after purchasing an additional 969,006 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $839,472,000 after purchasing an additional 429,863 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,295,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,830,000 after purchasing an additional 21,607 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,833,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,073,000 after purchasing an additional 220,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,681,000 after purchasing an additional 49,082 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

NYSE:CHD opened at $107.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $107.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.88. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.35 and a twelve month high of $116.46. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.56.

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