Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 17,665 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 132,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,665 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $13,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 51.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 52,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 17,774 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 149.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Church & Dwight by 11.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 10.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,273,000 after acquiring an additional 2,834 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CHD. Truist Financial boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.81.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD opened at $108.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.35 and a 52-week high of $116.46. The firm has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.60 and its 200-day moving average is $105.91.

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, hitting 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.