D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $32.25 Million Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 307,953 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,189 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.13% of Church & Dwight worth $32,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 193,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,915,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,794,000 after buying an additional 148,234 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,975,000 after buying an additional 20,887 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $318,532,000. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE CHD opened at $91.59 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $91.08 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.03 and a 200-day moving average of $105.52.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced 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 firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen cut Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.