Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 11,875 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. cut its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,875 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’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 value of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CHD shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.56.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD stock opened at $104.66 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.16, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.89. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.35 and a 12-month high of $116.46.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

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.