Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CHD. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at about $104,795,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,542,000 after purchasing an additional 969,006 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,565,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,338,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,106,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,832,000 after acquiring an additional 431,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD stock opened at $107.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a PE ratio of 45.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.35 and a 12-month high of $116.46. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.81.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted 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 reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight 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.