Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Sold by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 91.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 147,716 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CHD. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth about $639,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,426,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 456.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,232,000 after acquiring an additional 49,693 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,154 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 131.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 3,272 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.07 per share, for a total transaction of $276,210.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares in the company, valued at $506,845.35. This represents a 119.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CHD shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of CHD stock opened at $94.12 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.42. The company has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.99 and a twelve month high of $116.46.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.64%.

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.