Barclays PLC Sells 476,601 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Barclays PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 43.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 629,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 476,601 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.26% of Church & Dwight worth $65,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on CHD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.75.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 2.1 %

CHD opened at $102.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.42, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $107.20 and its 200-day moving average is $106.07. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.35 and a 1-year high of $116.46.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight 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.