The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Sold by Martin Capital Partners LLC

Martin Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 89.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,035 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,561 shares during the period. Martin Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Clorox were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank grew its position in Clorox by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,111,000 after buying an additional 1,567 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 63.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the third quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 11,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.21.

Clorox Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CLX traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $148.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,074,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,380,263. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $161.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

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.