Okabena Investment Services Inc. Sells 811 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Okabena Investment Services Inc. cut its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 10.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,091 shares of the company’s stock after selling 811 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1,715.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380,724 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 150.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Clorox by 13,547.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 440,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,063,000 after acquiring an additional 436,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 424.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,390,000 after purchasing an additional 435,971 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CLX. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Clorox Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $169.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.35. The company has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.04%.

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.