KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 874 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 874 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $6,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Clorox in the third quarter worth about $363,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Clorox by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $812,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.2% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CLX. StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.00.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE:CLX opened at $143.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

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.