Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 35,817 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA reduced its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,386,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,817 shares during the quarter. Church & Dwight comprises approximately 1.4% of Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $138,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 5,536.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 4,429 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,695,000 after purchasing an additional 12,478 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $854,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 33,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 8,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.40.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $105.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,240,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,188. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.53. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.25 and a 12-month high of $106.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $102.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.68.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.17%.

Church & Dwight 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.