GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Cuts Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lessened its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,645 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth approximately $104,795,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,542,000 after purchasing an additional 969,006 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the third quarter worth $58,338,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 63.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,106,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,832,000 after buying an additional 431,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,016,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $839,472,000 after buying an additional 429,863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total transaction of $31,152,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,704,740.96. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rick Spann sold 39,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $4,426,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,976. This trade represents a 88.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 415,622 shares of company stock valued at $43,994,559. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Church & Dwight stock opened at $105.36 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.22. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.09 and a 12 month high of $113.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.59.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. 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 yield of 1.12%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $124.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.61.

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.