Champlain Investment Partners LLC Sells 78,020 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 928,234 shares of the company's stock after selling 78,020 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 0.75% of Clorox worth $150,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Clorox by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Clorox by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 6,870 shares of the company's stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the company's stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,238,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Clorox by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 153 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded up $2.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.60. 262,790 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,300,593. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 38.72, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $146.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Clorox has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $153.83.

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.