Vest Financial LLC Raises Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 553,036 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 71,944 shares during the period. Church & Dwight makes up 1.0% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.23% of Church & Dwight worth $57,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CHD. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 5,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 37,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,923,000 after purchasing an additional 4,234 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.53.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Bradley C. Irwin sold 13,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.44, for a total transaction of $1,418,208.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,993,437.36. The trade was a 26.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total value of $5,062,012.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,361.75. This represents a 81.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,622 shares of company stock valued at $12,842,559 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:CHD opened at $105.05 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.09 and a 1 year high of $113.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced 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 firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.68%.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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.