Bleakley Financial Group LLC Buys 346 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,159 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $2,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,242,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter worth $5,934,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 28,129 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after buying an additional 49,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHD. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.53.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.7 %

CHD opened at $105.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.44, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.59. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.09 and a twelve month high of $113.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.30.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities 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 will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Read purchased 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,584.10. This represents a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total transaction of $5,062,012.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,361.75. The trade was a 81.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,622 shares of company stock valued at $12,842,559. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.