Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 100.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,377 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,710 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Clorox were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,041,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Clorox by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,361,758 shares of the company's stock worth $221,163,000 after purchasing an additional 585,526 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 549.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,144,000 after buying an additional 459,203 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Clorox by 187.9% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Clorox by 42.6% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.83.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX traded up $0.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.28. 825,138 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,301,951. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $145.61 and a 200-day moving average of $155.68. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.53%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.