Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Sells 601 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 601 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $7,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CHD shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Argus raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.07.

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Church & Dwight news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 24,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.61, for a total transaction of $2,526,011.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $790,958.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.82. The stock had a trading volume of 407,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,266,712. The company has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.25 and a 12-month high of $108.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $102.74 and its 200 day moving average is $96.97.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

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

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.