Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 108,631 Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,495 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,631 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $40,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at $259,041,000. Amundi grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 308,234 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Clorox by 302.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,390,000 after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,947,000 after acquiring an additional 245,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,935,000. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CLX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.00.

Clorox Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $143.76 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $150.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.40. The company has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Clorox’s payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

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.