Welch & Forbes LLC Buys 7,078 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 447,081 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,078 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned about 0.18% of Church & Dwight worth $42,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in Church & Dwight by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2,087.5% during the 4th quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total value of $761,944.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,525,266.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus raised Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.56.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD stock traded down $0.70 on Monday, hitting $105.41. 1,223,371 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,297,963. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.25 and a 12 month high of $108.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.78 and a 200 day moving average of $97.99. The stock has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

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.