Machina Capital S.A.S. Increases Holdings in The Clorox Company $CLX

Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 248.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,525 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,052 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in Clorox by 69.5% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Clorox during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Clorox during the first quarter valued at $35,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 239.1% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 289.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CLX shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Clorox from $118.00 to $110.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Clorox from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Clorox from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Clorox from $118.00 to $112.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Clorox from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $130.20.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $112.64 on Monday. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $110.61 and a one year high of $171.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.49 and its 200 day moving average is $125.82. The stock has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%.Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is 76.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other news, COO Eric H. Reynolds sold 15,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.78, for a total value of $1,861,774.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 54,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,711,475.38. This represents a 21.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.