Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 12,776 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 135,225 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,776 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.11% of Clorox worth $21,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company's stock worth $733,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Clorox by 1,715.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew 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 valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP increased its position in Clorox by 512.7% in the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company's stock worth $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Clorox by 13,547.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 440,116 shares of the company's stock worth $60,063,000 after buying an additional 436,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.38.

Clorox Trading Up 0.2 %

CLX traded up $0.31 on Friday, hitting $164.44. The company had a trading volume of 4,020,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,241,661. The company has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 57.30, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $164.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.48. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The business 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 business's revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Clorox's payout ratio is 170.03%.

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.