D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 1,059 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,129 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $4,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.8% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,242,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at about $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the third quarter valued at about $5,934,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 9.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 28,129 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after acquiring an additional 49,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total value of $1,061,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total transaction of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,976. The trade was a 95.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,302 shares of company stock worth $6,362,338 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD stock opened at $104.33 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.40 and its 200-day moving average is $104.66. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.35 and a 1 year high of $113.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.02, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 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 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 period last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.53.

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.