West Coast Financial LLC Sells 247 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

West Coast Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,655 shares of the company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 46,877.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after buying an additional 33,970 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,370,000 after acquiring an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,372,000 after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $157.22 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.16. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.78, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The business’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.23.

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.