Bleakley Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the third quarter valued at $54,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 191,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,266,000 after purchasing an additional 10,149 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,865,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 63,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,341,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 723,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,932,000 after acquiring an additional 13,038 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE:CLX opened at $148.51 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $161.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.88.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CLX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.21.

About Clorox

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.