The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 100,223 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,765 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $16,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,095,000 after buying an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1,715.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,461,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,724 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 150.6% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 13,547.0% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Clorox by 424.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,390,000 after buying an additional 435,971 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CLX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.00.

Clorox Price Performance

Clorox stock opened at $169.06 on Friday. 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 Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $169.21. The company has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $162.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.22.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

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.