Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $2.52 Million Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,510 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $2,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Clorox by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,713,000 after buying an additional 33,970 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Clorox by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,370,000 after buying an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Clorox by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,032,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,816,000 after buying an additional 308,234 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 27.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,456,000 after purchasing an additional 168,111 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Up 0.3 %

Clorox stock opened at $147.32 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The Clorox Company has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 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 previous year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.