Machina Capital S.A.S. Makes New Investment in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. has acquired 6,473 shares of The Clorox Company, investing approximately $953,000 in the first quarter.
• Recent analyst reports have led to a decrease in price targets for Clorox, with JPMorgan and Citigroup lowering their targets to $140.00 and $135.00, respectively.
• Clorox's stock is currently trading around $130.80, showing a decline in both earnings and revenue compared to the previous year.

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $953,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at about $259,041,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company's stock worth $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 688.7% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 587,679 shares of the company's stock worth $86,535,000 after purchasing an additional 513,171 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 549.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company's stock worth $88,144,000 after purchasing an additional 459,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 187.9% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company's stock worth $113,508,000 after purchasing an additional 456,114 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.80. 1,287,038 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,776,629. The business's 50-day moving average price is $126.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.51. 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 12 month low of $117.35 and a 12 month high of $171.37.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Clorox from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $144.83.

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.