Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 488,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 130,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Church & Dwight worth $51,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,213,661,000 after buying an additional 193,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.6% during 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $318,532,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,921,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,884,000 after purchasing an additional 298,848 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE CHD opened at $103.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $96.35 and a one year high of $116.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $107.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.06.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.13.

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.