Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Increases Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 89,583 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,157 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.07% of Clorox worth $14,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Coastwise Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 12.8% during the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Clorox by 7,175.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 63,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,323,000 after buying an additional 62,497 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,147,000. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 19.6% in the third quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 12.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,375 shares of the company's stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CLX. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.00.

Clorox Trading Up 1.3 %

CLX stock traded up $2.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $169.74. 1,073,451 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,969. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.42. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $163.27 and a 200-day moving average of $150.02. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.35.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Clorox's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.04%.

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.