abrdn plc Has $26.61 Million Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

abrdn plc raised its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 35.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 281,416 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,022 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $26,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 26,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 10,762 shares in the last quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 290.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after purchasing an additional 41,804 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1,474.7% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 233,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,379,000 after purchasing an additional 218,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 109,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,213,000 after buying an additional 19,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. 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 report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Argus raised Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Church & Dwight news, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total transaction of $761,944.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,525,266.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,703,613.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD opened at $106.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.25 and a 1 year high of $107.42.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. Church & Dwight’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.