Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $9.05 Million in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,047,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CLX. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Clorox during the third quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Cigna Investments Inc. New bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the third quarter valued at $203,000. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at $231,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company's stock worth $237,372,000 after acquiring an additional 31,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 3rd quarter worth $75,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $149.76. 1,958,944 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,416,449. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $156.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

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.