Cypress Capital Group Sells 3,230 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Cypress Capital Group lowered its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 53.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,799 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,230 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Clorox were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Insight Folios Inc grew its holdings in Clorox by 3.0% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 17.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CLX. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.00.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $169.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $169.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.22.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.