Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Price Target Lowered to $145.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $167.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.50.

Clorox Stock Down 1.2%

CLX stock opened at $118.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $131.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Clorox has a 12 month low of $117.35 and a 12 month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.12). Clorox had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 324.23%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Clorox will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other Clorox news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 118.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,085,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,699,000 after acquiring an additional 589,544 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,163,000 after acquiring an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Clorox by 688.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 587,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,535,000 after purchasing an additional 513,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Clorox by 412.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 598,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,167,000 after purchasing an additional 481,846 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.