D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 301 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 301 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Clorox during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 139.8% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 99.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of CLX opened at $167.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.41. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $163.09 and a 200 day moving average of $149.32.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 170.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

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.