The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 312,666 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,173 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $50,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CLX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $259,041,000. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in Clorox during the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $649,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Clorox by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 5,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Clorox in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.50.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX opened at $146.18 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $151.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.09. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37. The firm has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.87% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a $1.22 dividend. 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 is presently 133.33%.

Clorox Company 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.