HighTower Advisors LLC Has $53.22 Million Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 508,293 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,443 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $53,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CHD. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 224.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.4 %

CHD opened at $109.51 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.75 and a 200 day moving average of $105.60. The company has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a PE ratio of 46.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.35 and a 12 month high of $116.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total transaction of $1,061,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,575. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,570 shares of company stock worth $8,599,549 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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, 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.