Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Church & Dwight worth $15,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CHD. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CHD traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,273,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,631,769. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.35. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.25 and a 12-month high of $110.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.10. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Church & Dwight’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Robert K. Shearer sold 13,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.36, for a total value of $1,403,952.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,108 shares in the company, valued at $3,095,926.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Robert K. Shearer sold 13,200 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.36, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,654 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total value of $5,847,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,775. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CHD shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays cut their target price on Church & Dwight from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Argus raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.28.

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.