The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Sold by Gulf International Bank UK Ltd

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,650 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Clorox by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,573,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,135,000 after purchasing an additional 65,924 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased 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 valued at $380,761,000 after purchasing an additional 9,582 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,684,000 after purchasing an additional 230,173 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Clorox by 28.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Clorox by 7.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,361,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,512,000 after purchasing an additional 94,371 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of Clorox and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.36.

Clorox Stock Up 0.5%

Clorox stock opened at $122.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.64. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $117.35 and a one year high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 377.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.07%.

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.