D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $32.25 Million Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 307,953 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,189 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $32,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,336,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,946,000 after purchasing an additional 190,469 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 66,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,982,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $542,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 38,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,847 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $91.59 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.03 and its 200-day moving average is $105.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.08 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CHD shares. Bank of America raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.13.

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 dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total transaction of $1,365,285.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,518,514.59. The trade was a 35.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is currently 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.