Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 912 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $107.04 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.35 and a 52-week high of $116.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $107.42 and a 200-day moving average of $105.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 45.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.