N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 813 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 239.1% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CLX. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Clorox from $150.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Clorox from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.83.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,280. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Clorox Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $126.26 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.34 and its 200 day moving average is $139.61. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $117.35 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 324.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.61%.

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.