Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,492,717 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,510 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.20% of Clorox worth $237,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Latitude Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at about $231,000. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its position in Clorox by 8.5% during the third quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new stake in Clorox in the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. IRON Financial LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $873,000. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its stake in Clorox by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 32,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,309,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock traded up $4.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $163.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,296,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.00. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $121.76 and a 12-month high of $169.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.19. The company has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of 56.83, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is currently 170.04%.

Clorox Company 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.