Apeiron RIA LLC Trims Stock Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Apeiron RIA LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 51.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,648 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,728 shares during the quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 0.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 92,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,598,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Clorox by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 8,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Clorox by 75.6% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Clorox in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,672,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 60.5% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 8,957 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CLX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.54.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $159.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.44, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

Clorox Profile

The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States.