Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 9,800 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lessened its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,931 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,800 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Clorox were worth $3,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,525 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 46,877.8% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,370,000 after purchasing an additional 37,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,372,000 after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.21.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX traded up $2.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $156.52. 1,498,518 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,378,293. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $156.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.15. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.76, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 prior year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 3.12%. Clorox's payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Clorox 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.