Grimes & Company Inc. Purchases Shares of 59,264 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 59,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,727,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company's stock worth $2,518,517,000 after buying an additional 124,428 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company's stock worth $501,925,000 after purchasing an additional 69,969 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,582 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter worth approximately $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company's stock worth $242,684,000 after purchasing an additional 230,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $120.81. 4,705,029 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,556,834. The company's 50 day moving average price is $133.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.74. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $120.33 and a one year high of $171.37.

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

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.