Northeast Investment Management Sells 7,680 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Northeast Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,983 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,680 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Clorox were worth $8,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,277,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,150,000 after purchasing an additional 48,632 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth $144,844,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 14.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,200,000 after purchasing an additional 120,716 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at $128,382,000. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at $128,245,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of CLX stock traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $155.44. 1,376,384 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,634. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $114.68 and a 1 year high of $158.89. The stock has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 80.54, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $139.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.41.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.28. Clorox had a return on equity of 382.58% and a net margin of 3.95%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.4 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is an increase from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 252.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLX. Barclays raised their price target on Clorox from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Clorox in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $122.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.19.

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.