Sapient Capital LLC Buys Shares of 1,867 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Clorox by 17,658.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after buying an additional 481,725 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in Clorox during the third quarter worth approximately $6,605,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC bought a new stake in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,940,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Clorox by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Clorox by 742.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,316,000 after purchasing an additional 69,373 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CLX shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Clorox in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.13.

Clorox Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $140.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 223.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $114.68 and a 52 week high of $178.21.

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 company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 761.92%.

Clorox Company 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.