Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Stock Price

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $161.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.88% from the stock’s previous close.

CLX has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price target on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.00.

Clorox Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded up $1.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $149.21. The stock had a trading volume of 403,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,842. The stock has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $150.61 and its 200 day moving average is $158.66. Clorox has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Clorox will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Clorox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in Clorox by 27.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,456,000 after acquiring an additional 168,111 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth $363,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Clorox during the third quarter valued at $213,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Clorox by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 8.7% in the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 89,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,594,000 after acquiring an additional 7,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.