Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Clorox were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 150.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,597,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,035,000 after purchasing an additional 960,094 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,372,000 after buying an additional 31,510 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Clorox by 14.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 961,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,200,000 after acquiring an additional 120,716 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Clorox by 11.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,483,000 after acquiring an additional 85,529 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in Clorox by 3.1% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 560,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,956,000 after acquiring an additional 16,811 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $169.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 58.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $162.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.73. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $169.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.00.

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.