US Bancorp DE Trims Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

US Bancorp DE lessened its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,042 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Clorox were worth $21,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Clorox by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,277,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,150,000 after acquiring an additional 48,632 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 150.6% in the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 1,715.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 14.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,200,000 after buying an additional 120,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 26.5% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 882,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,099,000 after buying an additional 184,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.29.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $163.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.14. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $121.76 and a 52 week high of $169.09. The stock has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.84, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 292.08%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

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