Amalgamated Bank Sells 2,488 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,606 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,488 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.9% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.63.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $106.11 on Monday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.25 and a one year high of $108.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares in the company, valued at $638,702.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.