Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 4,930 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,930 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CHD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 88.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 5,659 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 55,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 147,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,485,000 after purchasing an additional 24,161 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 38.8% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 94,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,921,000 after purchasing an additional 26,466 shares during the period. Finally, Carderock Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1.7% in the third quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 57,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,022,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CHD opened at $105.98 on Thursday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.09 and a 12-month high of $113.50. 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 has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.63 and its 200 day moving average is $104.45.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,361.75. This trade represents a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total transaction of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,422 shares of company stock worth $11,424,351 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.