Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Sells 5,822 Shares of The Clorox Company $CLX

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 28.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,822 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Clorox in the 2nd quarter valued at $958,640,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $179,780,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,737,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,787,000 after purchasing an additional 102,732 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,418,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,969,000 after purchasing an additional 237,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the second quarter valued at about $123,154,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Clorox from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Clorox from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Clorox from $97.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $93.79.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $100.06 per share, for a total transaction of $400,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,201,320. The trade was a 22.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock opened at $99.80 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $79.12 and a 52-week high of $128.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.71 and its 200 day moving average is $99.67. The company has a market cap of $12.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.59.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.48. Clorox had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 608.30%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.93%.

Clorox Company Profile

The Clorox Company is a consumer products company founded in 1913 and headquartered in Oakland, California. It makes and markets products for household cleaning, food, water filtration, personal care and pet care.

Its portfolio includes Clorox disinfecting and cleaning products, Glad trash bags and food-storage products, Kingsford charcoal, Brita water filters, Hidden Valley dressings and sauces, Burt’s Bees personal-care products, and Fresh Step cat litter. The company also sells products under brands such as Pine-Sol and Liquid-Plumr.

Clorox serves consumers primarily in the United States and also sells products in international markets.