The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 1,494 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,023 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Clorox were worth $10,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 5.1% during the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 14.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $161.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $114.68 and a one year high of $169.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. Analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 252.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on CLX shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.13.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

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.