Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $62.89 Million Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 600,505 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,217 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Church & Dwight worth $62,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company's stock worth $5,242,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 12.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 803,588 shares of the company's stock worth $83,249,000 after buying an additional 88,580 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 9.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,934,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 55.5% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 241,801 shares of the company's stock worth $25,070,000 after acquiring an additional 86,318 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 research firms have recently issued reports on CHD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.10. The stock had a trading volume of 3,413,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,470. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.41. The firm has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $90.69 and a one year high of $113.50.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total transaction of $1,203,505.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $740,275.36. The trade was a 61.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 593,035 shares of company stock worth $62,282,808. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight 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.