Avior Wealth Management LLC Has $1.50 Million Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 11.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,670,000 after buying an additional 15,509 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 27.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 226.2% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 55,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after buying an additional 38,777 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 119.2% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,253,000 after buying an additional 12,328 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 54.6% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CHD shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Argus upgraded Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.27.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.6 %

CHD stock opened at $103.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $105.67. The stock has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 37.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $930,041.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $638,702.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $930,041.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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.