AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 3,996 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP boosted its position in Clorox by 512.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Clorox by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,816,000 after purchasing an additional 308,234 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Clorox by 302.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,390,000 after purchasing an additional 265,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $37,935,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.50.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX opened at $145.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.22. The stock has a market cap of $17.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid 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 3.35%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.