Norges Bank Buys New Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,042,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,532,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,691,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,213,661,000 after buying an additional 193,602 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 969,006 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,154 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,295,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,830,000 after acquiring an additional 21,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,833,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,073,000 after purchasing an additional 220,829 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHD. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.81.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Church & Dwight stock opened at $109.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.35 and a 12 month high of $116.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $107.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.295 dividend. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

About Church & Dwight

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.