Brown Advisory Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Brown Advisory Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,588 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Clorox by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Clorox by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Down 1.0%

Clorox stock opened at $126.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.51. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $117.35 and a 52-week high of $171.37.

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

Clorox 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.