Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 100,453 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 323,612 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 100,453 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of Clorox worth $52,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Clorox by 4.1% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 150,011 shares of the company's stock worth $23,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 9.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,525,000 after buying an additional 16,012 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 93.7% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 72,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,032,000 after buying an additional 34,864 shares in the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 24.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 181,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,711,000 after acquiring an additional 35,477 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas raised Clorox to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock traded up $2.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $168.29. 592,467 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,238,795. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $169.09. The company has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a PE ratio of 58.07, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $162.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 170.04%.

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.