The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Bought by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC raised its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 75.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,361,758 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned 1.10% of Clorox worth $221,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Clorox by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company's stock worth $2,518,517,000 after purchasing an additional 124,428 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company's stock worth $501,925,000 after purchasing an additional 69,969 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $259,041,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Clorox by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company's stock worth $165,816,000 after buying an additional 308,234 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 748,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,502,000 after acquiring an additional 24,214 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Clorox stock traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $139.32. 218,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,296,659. The Clorox Company has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The firm has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $146.89 and its 200 day moving average is $156.79.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CLX shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Clorox from $139.00 to $134.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Clorox presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.25.

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.