Franklin Resources Inc. Has $56.28 Million Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 537,476 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,732 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.22% of Church & Dwight worth $56,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth $5,934,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,426,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,335,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 456.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after purchasing an additional 49,693 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,272 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on 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 reissued 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 upped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.13.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $110.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.90 and a 200 day moving average of $106.08. The company has a market capitalization of $27.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.71, a PEG 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.

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 firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.295 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % 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 worth $7,538,449 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.