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

Cypress Capital Group trimmed its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 53.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Clorox by 257.5% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,228 shares of the company's stock worth $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 8,087 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Clorox during the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Clorox by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 267,632 shares of the company's stock worth $36,524,000 after buying an additional 66,149 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at about $876,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Clorox by 140.6% during the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 995,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,241,884. 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 company has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50 day moving average price is $162.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.43. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.35.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of Clorox 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CLX shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upgraded Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.