Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In related news, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total value of $1,061,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. This represents a 78.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,522 shares of company stock valued at $5,487,555. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD stock opened at $105.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.35 and a 200 day moving average of $104.72. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.35 and a 52 week high of $113.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

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.