Advanced Portfolio Management LLC Acquires Shares of 7,881 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Advanced Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,251,000. Clorox comprises 1.5% of Advanced Portfolio Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Clorox by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company's stock worth $2,518,517,000 after buying an additional 124,428 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company's stock worth $501,925,000 after purchasing an additional 69,969 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Clorox by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,761,000 after purchasing an additional 9,582 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Clorox by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company's stock worth $242,684,000 after buying an additional 230,173 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CLX. StockNews.com downgraded Clorox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $153.83.

Clorox Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $138.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $144.14 and a 200-day moving average of $154.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS 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 period last year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox's payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

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.

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