Rockland Trust Co. Sells 4,064 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Rockland Trust Co. reduced its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 61.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,064 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Clorox by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 19,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.2% in the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in Clorox by 17.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CLX traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $161.57. 798,281 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,250,263. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $114.68 and a 12 month high of $169.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $154.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.50.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. Research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 252.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CLX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Clorox to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $150.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clorox

In other news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.