Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,421,909 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 316,688 shares during the period. Clorox comprises 0.3% of Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 1.15% of Clorox worth $230,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $714,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Clorox by 10.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,840,000 after purchasing an additional 12,776 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Clorox by 6.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,641,000 after purchasing an additional 9,720 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Clorox by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 521 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Clorox by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $176.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Clorox from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.83.

Clorox Price Performance

CLX stock opened at $138.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.60. 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 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.91.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. 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.