Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,800 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,358 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $9,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Church & Dwight by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 193,602 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Church & Dwight by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $768,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $617,794,000 after acquiring an additional 148,234 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,975,000 after acquiring an additional 20,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $318,532,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen cut Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.13.
Read Our Latest Analysis on CHD
Church & Dwight Price Performance
Shares of CHD traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $96.45. 395,893 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,808. 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 12-month low of $90.99 and a 12-month high of $116.46. The company has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $102.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.27.
Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Church & Dwight Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is 50.64%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. This trade represents a 83.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Church & Dwight Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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