JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 160,718 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 531,403 shares of the company's stock after selling 160,718 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.43% of Clorox worth $86,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 26.3% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 59,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,736,000 after buying an additional 12,428 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Clorox by 119.6% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $1,566,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company's stock worth $491,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Clorox Price Performance

NYSE:CLX traded down $4.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $143.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,292,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,012. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $150.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.44. 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 Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37.

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

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CLX shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.00.

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.