Willis Investment Counsel Acquires 16,893 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 202,678 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,893 shares during the period. Clorox makes up approximately 2.0% of Willis Investment Counsel's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Willis Investment Counsel owned 0.16% of Clorox worth $29,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 565,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,893,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Clorox by 33.5% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,198,000 after buying an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Clorox by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 654,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,248,000 after buying an additional 80,189 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Clorox by 5.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 273,462 shares of the company's stock worth $40,267,000 after acquiring an additional 14,647 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the company's stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CLX. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on Clorox and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.23.

Clorox Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded down $4.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $123.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,709,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,358,799. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.78. The firm has a market cap of $15.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.54. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $122.87 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. The company's revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.