Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,272 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $2,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen lowered shares of Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard A. Dierker bought 7,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $94.66 per share, for a total transaction of $752,547.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,548,448.28. The trade was a 94.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

NYSE CHD opened at $95.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.27. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.99 and a 52-week high of $116.46. The company has a market cap of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.64%.

Church & Dwight Company 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.