Wulff Hansen & CO. Buys 436,891 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 13,547.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 440,116 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 436,891 shares during the quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. owned 0.35% of Clorox worth $60,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $101,000. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 170.8% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth about $128,382,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clorox news, EVP Angela C. Hilt sold 1,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $286,846.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,719.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $144.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $122.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.50.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $165.95 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.33. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $169.09. The company has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly 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. Clorox had a return on equity of 281.12% and a net margin of 3.95%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Clorox’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 252.85%.

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.