Baron Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Baron Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CLX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,035,000 after acquiring an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,372,000 after acquiring an additional 31,510 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,200,000 after acquiring an additional 120,716 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,483,000 after acquiring an additional 85,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $169.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $169.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $162.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.73.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction on 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 owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % 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. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.