Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Purchases New Shares in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,517,000 after acquiring an additional 124,428 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,925,000 after acquiring an additional 69,969 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 0.4% during the 4th 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 acquired a new position in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth $259,041,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Clorox by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,494,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,684,000 after acquiring an additional 230,173 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Clorox

In related news, Director Pierre R. Breber purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.57 per share, for a total transaction of $546,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,280. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $151.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of Clorox and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.23.

Clorox Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $136.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $141.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.35. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.61%.

About Clorox

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.