The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Purchased by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,234 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Clorox were worth $1,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Clorox during the 3rd quarter worth about $225,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Clorox by 6.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,641,000 after purchasing an additional 9,720 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Clorox during the third quarter worth about $449,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 9.9% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Clorox in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CLX. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.62.

Clorox Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $151.11 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.47. The Clorox Company has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.37. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. 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.