Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 18,500 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 18,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,005,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Clorox by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,517,000 after buying an additional 124,428 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Clorox by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,925,000 after acquiring an additional 69,969 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,344,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,582 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,684,000 after purchasing an additional 230,173 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CLX. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pierre R. Breber bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.57 per share, with a total value of $546,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,280. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX opened at $134.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $141.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.49. 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 $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.12). Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 87.61%.

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.