Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,302 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,558 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $8,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,622,000 after buying an additional 44,344 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,463,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,497,427,000 after buying an additional 195,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,725,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,349,000 after buying an additional 100,920 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,356,000 after buying an additional 47,879 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $142.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 226.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $150.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.68. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $114.68 and a 1 year high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for 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%. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CLX shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Clorox in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.50.

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.