Spire Wealth Management Sells 14,733 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Spire Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 69.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,733 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $105.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.09 and a 52-week high of $113.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $106.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.25. The stock has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.59.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,361.75. This represents a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 115,622 shares of company stock valued at $12,842,559. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Profile

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.