Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,297 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,747 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Clorox were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 565,810 shares of the company's stock worth $91,893,000 after buying an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Clorox by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 654,198 shares of the company's stock worth $106,248,000 after purchasing an additional 80,189 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 119.6% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the company's stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Clorox by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,074 shares of the company's stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 489.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 115,252 shares of the company's stock worth $18,718,000 after purchasing an additional 95,691 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other Clorox news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $546,280. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CLX. Barclays cut their price objective on Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.23.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $130.73. The stock had a trading volume of 400,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,333,721. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $139.05 and a 200 day moving average of $151.85. The stock has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week 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 issued its earnings results 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 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Clorox's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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.