Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 15,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $111,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 466,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,810,000 after purchasing an additional 20,433 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % 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 quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.0 %

CHD stock opened at $107.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 45.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.88. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.35 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 49.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CHD. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.56.

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 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.