Barclays PLC Sells 476,601 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Barclays PLC cut its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 43.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 629,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 476,601 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $65,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.75.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE CHD opened at $102.91 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.20 and its 200-day moving average is $106.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $96.35 and a one year high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company’s 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 owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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 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.