United Asset Strategies Inc. Has $5.31 Million Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 0.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,587 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $5,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the third quarter worth $217,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,372,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Clorox by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 15,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Clorox by 42.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 7.0% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Up 3.3 %

CLX traded up $5.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $161.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,200,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,816. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.12, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $169.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 281.12%. Clorox’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 252.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Clorox from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.