Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Purchased by Northcape Capital Pty Ltd

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd lifted its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,980 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the quarter. Church & Dwight accounts for approximately 0.1% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CHD. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 1,474.7% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 233,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,379,000 after purchasing an additional 218,501 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 1.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,291,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,645,000 after acquiring an additional 61,090 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1,018.1% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 103,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,524,000 after acquiring an additional 94,639 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Church & Dwight in the second quarter valued at approximately $142,130,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 363,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,329,000 after purchasing an additional 37,428 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup cut shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Bank of America raised Church & Dwight from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.80.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHD traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $104.18. The company had a trading volume of 356,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,275,862. The company has a market cap of $25.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $100.64 and its 200 day moving average is $95.41. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.25 and a 52 week high of $105.67.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Church & Dwight’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.2838 dividend. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $638,702.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.