Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 3,545 Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 9.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,368,000 after acquiring an additional 28,129 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,399,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,556,000 after acquiring an additional 16,257 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at approximately $896,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 38.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,382,000 after acquiring an additional 16,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 5.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,016,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $839,472,000 after acquiring an additional 429,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total value of $1,203,505.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,275.36. This trade represents a 61.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bradley C. Irwin sold 13,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.44, for a total value of $1,418,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,993,437.36. The trade was a 26.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 535,733 shares of company stock worth $55,920,470. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Church & Dwight stock opened at $111.90 on Monday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.26 and a fifty-two week high of $113.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.17 and a 200 day moving average of $104.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.18, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 50.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CHD. Piper Sandler started coverage on Church & Dwight in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $101.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Church & Dwight from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.53.

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.