Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Church & Dwight by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Church & Dwight by 2.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors increased its position in Church & Dwight by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Church & Dwight by 3.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

NYSE:CHD opened at $107.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.35 and a 52-week high of $116.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $107.08 and a 200 day moving average of $105.81. 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 (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.