Carret Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,502 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $5,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 4.4% in the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Church & Dwight by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Apeiron RIA LLC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 3.8% in the third quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 3,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded up $0.65 on Wednesday, reaching $107.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 912,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,419. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.25 and a 52-week high of $107.56. The company has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.2838 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 37.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CHD. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.