Unigestion Holding SA Sells 121,854 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Unigestion Holding SA decreased its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 46.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121,854 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Church & Dwight worth $14,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,213,661,000 after purchasing an additional 193,602 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $1,373,542,000 after acquiring an additional 969,006 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,157,000 after buying an additional 1,190,154 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,915,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,794,000 after acquiring an additional 148,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $318,532,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,217,442.06. This trade represents 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 worth $7,538,449 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.13.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 4.3 %

CHD opened at $105.98 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.35 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The company has a market capitalization of $26.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.72, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.