The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Position Reduced by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,151 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,712 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $5,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 276.6% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 6,844 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,073,000 after buying an additional 5,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 81.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,410,000 after buying an additional 10,981 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CLX shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $162.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.50.

Clorox Stock Up 1.4 %

Clorox stock opened at $142.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 226.10, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.68. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

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.