California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 3,951 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,510,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,951 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $142,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,910,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,740,665,000 after acquiring an additional 145,390 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Church & Dwight by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,200,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,405,000 after purchasing an additional 217,047 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,283,000 after buying an additional 2,839,783 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,310,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,982,000 after buying an additional 29,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,291,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,645,000 after acquiring an additional 61,090 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Argus raised Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Church & Dwight in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD opened at $106.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $102.34 and a 200 day moving average of $96.83. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.25 and a fifty-two week high of $107.42.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 37.17%.

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.