17,296 Shares in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Purchased by Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,811,000. Church & Dwight makes up about 1.6% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,242,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth $5,934,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 9.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,368,000 after purchasing an additional 28,129 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,232,000 after buying an additional 49,693 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CHD. 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 report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight 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 $111.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total value of $5,062,012.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,361.75. This trade represents a 81.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total value of $1,061,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,575. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,424,351 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

NYSE CHD opened at $107.58 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.46. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.09 and a 12-month high of $113.50. The firm has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.39, a PEG ratio of 3.35 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 issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS 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 a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

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, 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.