Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 21,579 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX – Get Rating) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,579 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Clorox worth $21,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Clorox in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Avengers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 1,907.1% in the fourth quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Affiance Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 79.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CLX shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Clorox from $137.00 to $151.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Clorox in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Clorox in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.54.

Clorox Stock Up 0.2 %

CLX stock opened at $166.36 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $120.50 and a twelve month high of $178.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.43 and its 200-day moving average is $152.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a PE ratio of 286.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.30.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 114.67% and a net margin of 1.03%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Profile

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The Clorox Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of consumer and professional products. It operates through the following business segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment consists of cleaning products, professional products and vitamins, minerals and supplements mainly marketed and sold in the United States.