Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 554,688 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 163,341 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.45% of Clorox worth $90,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Clorox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $714,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 12.5% during the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,250 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Clorox by 12.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,689,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,873,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Clorox by 10.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,225 shares of the company's stock worth $21,840,000 after acquiring an additional 12,776 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Clorox from $139.00 to $134.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $153.83.

Clorox Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CLX stock opened at $138.28 on Monday. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $145.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.63. The stock has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Clorox's payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

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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