Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Position in The Clorox Company $CLX

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in The Clorox Company by 147.6%, owning 707,005 shares valued at approximately $104.1 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• The Clorox Company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.24 per share, up from $1.22, resulting in an annualized payout of $4.96 and a dividend yield of 4.0%.
• Multiple brokerages adjusted their price targets on Clorox, with Wells Fargo reducing its target from $138 to $130, while JPMorgan increased it from $133 to $135, reflecting varied analyst sentiments on the stock.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 147.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 707,005 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 421,453 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.57% of Clorox worth $104,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 269,926 shares of the company's stock worth $39,747,000 after acquiring an additional 36,352 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth $247,000. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth $399,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the 1st quarter worth $400,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,510 shares of the company's stock worth $4,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In other news, COO Eric H. Reynolds sold 15,041 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.78, for a total transaction of $1,861,774.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 54,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,711,475.38. The trade was a 21.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $138.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $142.18.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX opened at $123.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.15, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $124.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.44. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $116.53 and a 1-year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 377.86% and a net margin of 11.40%.Clorox's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Clorox has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.950-6.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This is a boost from Clorox's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Clorox's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.07%.

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.

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