Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 54,217 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 600,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,217 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Church & Dwight worth $62,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CHD. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter worth approximately $549,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,409,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the first quarter worth $247,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 77.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 8,901 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of CHD opened at $106.45 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.46 and a twelve month high of $110.31. The company has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.02.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.11. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Church & Dwight news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,704,740.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,275.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 477,413 shares of company stock valued at $49,440,249 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CHD. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $101.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.05.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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.