Trexquant Investment LP Invests $8.05 Million in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 49,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,054,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CLX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Clorox by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,507,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,518,517,000 after purchasing an additional 124,428 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Clorox by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,182,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,947,000 after buying an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,098,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,925,000 after acquiring an additional 69,969 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Clorox by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,370,000 after acquiring an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Clorox during the fourth quarter valued at about $259,041,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three research 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, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.00.

Clorox Stock Up 0.6 %

Clorox stock opened at $148.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52. The Clorox Company has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.59.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend 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.