Modera Wealth Management LLC Sells 581 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Modera Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,372 shares of the company’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,925,000 after acquiring an additional 69,969 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Clorox by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,582 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,684,000 after acquiring an additional 230,173 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,421,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,932,000 after purchasing an additional 316,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $123.06 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $117.35 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.14.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 538.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This is a boost from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 87.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.00.

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.