Board of the Pension Protection Fund Takes $589,000 Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Clorox by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,518,517,000 after buying an additional 124,428 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,925,000 after buying an additional 69,969 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Clorox by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,761,000 after buying an additional 9,582 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Clorox by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,684,000 after buying an additional 230,173 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE CLX traded up $0.90 on Monday, hitting $120.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,136,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,856. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $117.35 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $130.83 and its 200 day moving average is $144.69. The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.54.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). Clorox had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 324.23%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Clorox

In other news, Director Pierre R. Breber acquired 4,000 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $546,280. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CLX shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.50.

Clorox 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.