Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $1.52 Million Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 91.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor 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.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $3,213,661,000 after buying an additional 193,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 valued at $768,157,000 after buying an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $617,794,000 after buying an additional 148,234 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,975,000 after purchasing an additional 20,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $318,532,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.07 per share, with a total value of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,845.35. The trade was a 119.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.1%

CHD stock opened at $94.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.38 and a 200-day moving average of $105.42. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. Church & Dwight’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Company 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.