The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 7,175.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,368 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 62,497 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned about 0.05% of Clorox worth $10,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 267,632 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,524,000 after buying an additional 66,149 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at $876,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Clorox by 140.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 74,032 shares of the company's stock worth $11,335,000 after acquiring an additional 43,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Clorox by 8.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,121,000 after purchasing an additional 22,676 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Trading Up 0.7 %

Clorox stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $167.64. The company had a trading volume of 378,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,452. The stock has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.35. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $163.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.68.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is presently 170.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.