Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 4,023 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 176.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,297 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,023 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Clorox by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp bought a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,428,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Clorox by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 315,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,319,000 after purchasing an additional 8,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on Clorox and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Clorox from $134.00 to $129.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of Clorox stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,280. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $127.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $136.60 and a 200 day moving average of $149.80. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $126.99 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

About Clorox

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.