Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 19,138 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,151 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,138 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.06% of Church & Dwight worth $16,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 471,650 shares of the company's stock worth $49,386,000 after purchasing an additional 27,662 shares during the period. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $999,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 12,840.4% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 22,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 21,957 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth about $318,532,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Church & Dwight by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 84,444 shares of the company's stock worth $8,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Church & Dwight from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.13.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 4.3 %

Church & Dwight stock traded down $4.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,154,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,482,709. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.35 and a 52-week high of $116.46. The firm's 50 day moving average is $107.89 and its 200 day moving average is $106.13. The company has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of 44.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase 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%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

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 Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.