West Coast Financial LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

West Coast Financial LLC lowered its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,655 shares of the company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 65,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,981,000 after buying an additional 7,916 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Clorox by 9.8% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Clorox by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,483,000 after purchasing an additional 85,529 shares during the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 2nd quarter valued at $358,000. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CLX shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Clorox from $153.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $157.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.23.

Clorox Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE CLX opened at $157.22 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a PE ratio of 54.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $164.48 and its 200 day moving average is $156.16. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Clorox’s payout ratio is 170.03%.

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.