M3 Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

M3 Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 89.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,283,000 after buying an additional 2,839,783 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth about $259,967,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,004,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,414,000 after buying an additional 2,533,877 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,265,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,861,865,000 after purchasing an additional 354,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,334,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,233,000 after purchasing an additional 277,017 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Church & Dwight stock traded up $1.61 on Monday, hitting $109.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,080,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,251,742. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.25 and a one year high of $109.46. The stock has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.20.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.19.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, Director Robert K. Shearer sold 13,200 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.36, for a total value of $1,403,952.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,108 shares in the company, valued at $3,095,926.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Church & Dwight news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total transaction of $9,243,014.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $813,479.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert K. Shearer sold 13,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.36, for a total value of $1,403,952.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,095,926.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,346 shares of company stock worth $19,465,948 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.