Beaton Management Co. Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Beaton Management Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Clorox by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Clorox by 1.1% in the 3rd 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 period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position 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 buying an additional 37,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Clorox by 2.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,372,000 after buying an additional 31,510 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $147.91 on Tuesday. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The firm has a market cap of $18.31 billion, a PE ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.61.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its 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 net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CLX shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.21.

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.