Bleakley Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen upgraded Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.21.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $148.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.88. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The firm has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

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.