Marietta Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,330 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,243 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE CHD opened at $107.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $107.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.88. 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 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 $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. 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. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.