Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 11,953 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 229,291 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,953 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.19% of Clorox worth $37,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Clorox by 26.3% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 59,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,736,000 after purchasing an additional 12,428 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth $1,566,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Clorox by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,713,000 after acquiring an additional 33,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.50.

Clorox Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Clorox stock opened at $146.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.34 and a 200-day moving average of $159.03. 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 $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 39.94, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

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.