Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Stock Price

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $167.00 to $145.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on CLX. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on Clorox and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $149.50.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX traded up $1.08 on Thursday, hitting $119.09. The company had a trading volume of 5,265,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,849. The company's fifty day moving average price is $131.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.00. Clorox has a 1-year low of $117.35 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.07, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $546,280. This represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,573,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,293,135,000 after buying an additional 65,924 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Clorox by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,925,000 after buying an additional 69,969 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,761,000 after buying an additional 9,582 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Clorox by 2.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,528,920 shares of the company's stock worth $225,133,000 after purchasing an additional 34,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company's stock.

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.