Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 26,194 Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 26,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,743,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 3.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 314,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,632,000 after acquiring an additional 10,618 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,168,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,191,000 after purchasing an additional 159,233 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Church & Dwight by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 35,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 13.0% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 23,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after buying an additional 2,645 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CHD shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $124.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.61.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

NYSE CHD opened at $106.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a PE ratio of 47.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.62. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.09 and a 52-week high of $113.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.05.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.11. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Church & Dwight’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 50.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total transaction of $1,203,505.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,275.36. This represents a 61.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 593,035 shares of company stock valued at $62,282,808 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.