Dean Investment Associates LLC Sells 247 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Dean Investment Associates LLC reduced its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $318,532,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,154 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,565,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at about $58,338,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth about $49,504,000. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $105.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.35 and a twelve month high of $116.46. 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 50 day moving average of $107.23 and a 200 day moving average of $106.08.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 company earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHD has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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 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.