The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 302.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 353,367 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.29% of Clorox worth $57,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CLX. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,490,421 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Clorox by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after acquiring an additional 33,970 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Clorox by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,492,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,372,000 after purchasing an additional 31,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Clorox Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $158.43 on Thursday. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The stock has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.20, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 316.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Clorox’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 170.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $155.00 to $157.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.46.

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.