Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $76.57 Million in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 731,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,565,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 224.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Read bought 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,584.10. The trade was a 78.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total transaction of $1,061,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,448,575. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,002 shares of company stock worth $1,061,315. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD stock opened at $112.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.40. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $96.35 and a one year high of $114.60.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CHD shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.56.

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, 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.