The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Holdings Lifted by Man Group plc

Man Group plc increased its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 154.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 570,503 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 346,449 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.46% of Clorox worth $92,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company's stock worth $2,518,517,000 after purchasing an additional 124,428 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Clorox by 0.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Clorox by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,684,000 after acquiring an additional 230,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Clorox news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,280. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.31. The company had a trading volume of 3,182,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,320,934. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The stock has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $141.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.35. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. The business's revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox's payout ratio is 87.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson cut their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.23.

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.