Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $121.50 Million Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 748,120 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,214 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $121,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 245,525 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Clorox by 46,877.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,095,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490,421 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,028,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,970 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,334,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,370,000 after purchasing an additional 37,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Clorox by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 776,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,456,000 after purchasing an additional 168,111 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLX opened at $151.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $155.65 and its 200 day moving average is $160.40. 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 Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CLX shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Clorox from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.62.

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.