The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Purchased by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,726 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $4,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,622,000 after purchasing an additional 44,344 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Clorox by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,463,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,497,427,000 after buying an additional 195,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 3.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,725,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,349,000 after purchasing an additional 100,920 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,356,000 after purchasing an additional 47,879 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Clorox in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.50.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX stock traded up $1.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $142.41. The stock had a trading volume of 325,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,529. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a PE ratio of 223.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.60. The Clorox Company has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $178.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 761.92%.

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.