OmniStar Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $824,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 139.8% during the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the first quarter worth about $31,000. First Foundation Advisors bought a new position in Clorox in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.14.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Clorox Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Clorox stock traded down $0.65 on Friday, hitting $161.96. The stock had a trading volume of 682,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,230,643. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $114.68 and a one year high of $169.09. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $159.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.18. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.92, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox's payout ratio is 252.85%.

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.