Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Sold by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CHD. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter valued at $104,795,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,542,000 after purchasing an additional 969,006 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter worth $58,338,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,106,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,832,000 after purchasing an additional 431,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,016,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,472,000 after purchasing an additional 429,863 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.5 %

Church & Dwight stock opened at $107.58 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.09 and a fifty-two week high of $113.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.39, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on CHD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.53.

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total transaction of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,976. This represents a 95.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. The trade was a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 102,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,424,351. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.