Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 8,073 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,073 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Clorox worth $10,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Clorox by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Clorox by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 2,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Clorox by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $6,744,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Stock Up 0.4 %

CLX stock opened at $146.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.34 and a 200-day moving average of $159.09.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report 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, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.50.

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.