1,945 Shares in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Bought by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Clorox by 43.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,865,000 after acquiring an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 8.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 63,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,341,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 723,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,932,000 after buying an additional 13,038 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 12,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CLX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.62.

Clorox Stock Performance

NYSE CLX opened at $147.32 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. 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 3.31%. 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.