Empowered Funds LLC Sells 10,353 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 32.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,802 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,353 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Clorox were worth $3,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 150.6% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company's stock worth $237,372,000 after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company's stock worth $131,200,000 after purchasing an additional 120,716 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,483,000 after buying an additional 85,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 560,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,956,000 after buying an additional 16,811 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.16. 1,075,779 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,242,177. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $169.21. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $162.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.94. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company's revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Clorox's payout ratio is presently 170.04%.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

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 value of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target 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. 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.00.

Clorox Profile

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.