Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 817 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 263.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,127 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 1,617.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,292,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,568 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 4,161.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,100,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,091,000 after buying an additional 1,074,588 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 1st quarter valued at $69,384,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 394.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 335,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,147,000 after acquiring an additional 267,801 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,358,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,668,000 after acquiring an additional 175,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.3 %

CHD opened at $109.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.05. The company has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.26 and a fifty-two week high of $110.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 19.90%. Church & Dwight’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 50.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Bradley C. Irwin sold 13,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.44, for a total value of $1,418,208.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,993,437.36. The trade was a 26.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total transaction of $1,203,505.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,275.36. This represents a 61.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 490,613 shares of company stock worth $50,858,457 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $101.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Church & Dwight from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Church & Dwight in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.53.

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.