The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Bought by Ossiam

Ossiam boosted its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 225.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,734 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 37,915 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Clorox were worth $8,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DE Burlo Group Inc. acquired a new position in Clorox during the first quarter worth $224,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 201.7% during the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,349 shares during the period. Veritable L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 7,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 257.1% during the 1st quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,953,000 after purchasing an additional 13,433 shares during the period. Finally, Private Portfolio Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CLX. DA Davidson increased their price target on Clorox from $155.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Clorox from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Atlantic Securities upgraded Clorox from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.38.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other Clorox news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total transaction of $538,103.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,734,883.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $154.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a PE ratio of 130.00, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.28. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $124.58 and a 1 year high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.48. Clorox had a return on equity of 163.56% and a net margin of 2.02%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 403.36%.

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.