Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 1,797 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,797 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 193,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,915,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,794,000 after acquiring an additional 148,234 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,975,000 after acquiring an additional 20,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $318,532,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:CHD opened at $95.29 on Thursday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.27 and a 200 day moving average of $103.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.90, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.52.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Church & Dwight’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Carlen Hooker sold 6,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $627,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,754.60. This trade represents a 96.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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, with a total value of $752,547.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,575 shares of company stock valued at $4,910,586. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CHD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.29.

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.