Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $13.68 Million Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,047 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Clorox worth $13,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,341,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,622,000 after purchasing an additional 44,344 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Clorox by 17.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,415,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,517,000 after buying an additional 357,964 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Clorox by 2.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,184,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,356,000 after buying an additional 47,879 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,738,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,904,000 after purchasing an additional 30,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Clorox by 2.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,633,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,103,000 after purchasing an additional 42,352 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clorox Stock Up 1.0 %

CLX traded up $1.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $145.35. The stock had a trading volume of 432,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,534. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37. The company has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 230.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.43. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $114.68 and a one year high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $1.08. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 761.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on CLX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on Clorox from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Clorox in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.63.

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.