Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Sells 726 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lessened its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 36.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,254 shares of the company’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Clorox were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Clorox by 1,715.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380,724 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in Clorox by 150.6% in the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Clorox by 13,547.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 440,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,063,000 after acquiring an additional 436,891 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Clorox by 424.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,390,000 after acquiring an additional 435,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 5,442.5% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 273,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,622,000 after purchasing an additional 268,966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CLX. Citigroup lifted their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.00.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $164.78 on Wednesday. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $169.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.95. The firm has a market cap of $20.40 billion, a PE ratio of 57.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 170.04%.

Clorox Company 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.