Savant Capital LLC Sells 3,997 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Savant Capital LLC lowered its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 54.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,997 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. First Foundation Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CLX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Clorox from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen began coverage on Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $122.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,229,719.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX opened at $164.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $114.68 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 85.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $145.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.27.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 252.85%.

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.