Larson Financial Group LLC Cuts Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Larson Financial Group LLC lowered its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,778 shares of the company’s stock after selling 283 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth $1,794,000. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 224.2% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth about $826,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Clorox by 100.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 56,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,048,000 after purchasing an additional 28,245 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CLX. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.63.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock opened at $145.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.23. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $178.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a PE ratio of 231.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.43.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 761.92%.

Clorox Company 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.