Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Decreases Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lessened its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $7,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Clorox by 99.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after buying an additional 22,882 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 44.2% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 5,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Clorox by 11.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLX has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.57.

Clorox Stock Performance

Clorox stock opened at $162.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.46. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $125.46 and a twelve month high of $169.09. The company has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 170.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.