Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 16,852 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,162 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,852 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.06% of Clorox worth $11,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the third quarter valued at about $231,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 913 shares of the company's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at $395,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in Clorox by 15.4% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 13,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.21.

Clorox Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of CLX stock traded down $2.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $154.72. The stock had a trading volume of 644,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,846. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of 42.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $157.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.