Ascent Group LLC Has $2.45 Million Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,359 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,512 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $2,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,426,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $76,565,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 184,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,281,000 after acquiring an additional 21,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 8,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other news, CEO Richard A. Dierker purchased 7,950 shares of the firm’s 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,448.28. The trade was a 94.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $92.07 per share, with a total value of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,845.35. This trade represents a 119.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CHD shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen cut shares of Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CHD opened at $96.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $116.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $101.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

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

Church & Dwight 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.