Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,240 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CLX. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Clorox by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 13.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 52,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,545,000 after buying an additional 6,232 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Clorox during the third quarter worth $289,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Clorox during the third quarter worth $431,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Clorox in the third quarter worth $419,000. 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 a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Clorox Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $167.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The company has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.41. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.01.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.