Bank of Montreal Can Sells 47,483 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 18.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,483 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.17% of Clorox worth $34,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CLX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Clorox by 1,715.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in Clorox by 150.6% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Clorox by 13,547.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 440,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,063,000 after purchasing an additional 436,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Clorox by 424.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,390,000 after purchasing an additional 435,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.00.

Clorox Stock Down 0.1 %

Clorox stock opened at $167.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.24, a PEG ratio of 3.07 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.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.04%.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.