Champlain Investment Partners LLC Sells 555,385 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,006,254 shares of the company’s stock after selling 555,385 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $163,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc grew its position in Clorox by 3.0% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 2.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Clorox by 2.2% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $169.31 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.43. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.35.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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 stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.