J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Takes $1.04 Million Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,041,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Clorox by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Clorox by 549.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company's stock worth $88,144,000 after purchasing an additional 459,203 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 187.9% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 698,900 shares of the company's stock worth $113,508,000 after purchasing an additional 456,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,816,000 after buying an additional 308,234 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Up 2.4 %

Clorox stock opened at $141.99 on Wednesday. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $146.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.10.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Clorox's payout ratio is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $139.00 to $134.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.83.

Clorox Company 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.

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