Greenleaf Trust Decreases Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 853 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Clorox were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 17,658.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after acquiring an additional 481,725 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Clorox in the third quarter worth $6,605,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth $2,940,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Clorox by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Clorox by 742.8% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,316,000 after buying an additional 69,373 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.63.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE:CLX opened at $145.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 230.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.43. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $114.68 and a 52-week high of $178.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.82 and a 200 day moving average of $142.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

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.