The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 302.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 353,367 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 265,455 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.29% of Clorox worth $57,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CLX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 46,877.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP raised its stake in Clorox by 512.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company's stock worth $88,315,000 after acquiring an additional 453,624 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 424.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,576 shares of the company's stock worth $877,390,000 after acquiring an additional 435,971 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Clorox by 5,442.5% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 273,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,622,000 after acquiring an additional 268,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after acquiring an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised Clorox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.23.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of Clorox stock traded up $2.20 on Thursday, hitting $160.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 871,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 955,991. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The company has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.17.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.03%.

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.