Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $9.05 Million Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,047,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its holdings in Clorox by 512.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 542,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,315,000 after buying an additional 453,624 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Clorox by 302.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,390,000 after buying an additional 265,455 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after acquiring an additional 245,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 27.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,456,000 after acquiring an additional 168,111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $156.52 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $156.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.37. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.42.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.