The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Sold by Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 37,967 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,816,000 after purchasing an additional 308,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,456,000 after purchasing an additional 168,111 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $145.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $153.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.97.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced 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 return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

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.