Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases 646 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,074 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Clorox were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Clorox by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,372,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Clorox by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 565,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,893,000 after acquiring an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter worth about $605,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Clorox by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 74,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter valued at about $259,041,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CLX. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Clorox from $139.00 to $134.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Clorox from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.08.

Clorox Stock Performance

CLX opened at $140.77 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $147.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The company has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.61. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Clorox’s 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.