D.A. Davidson & CO. Trims Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 46,877.8% during the third 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. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 150.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Clorox by 2.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,372,000 after acquiring an additional 31,510 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 14.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,200,000 after acquiring an additional 120,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Clorox by 11.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,483,000 after purchasing an additional 85,529 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock opened at $167.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.24, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.09 and a 200 day moving average of $149.32. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.35. 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 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 during 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%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CLX. Citigroup upped their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

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.