California Public Employees Retirement System Has $107.75 Million Stake in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 755,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,245 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.61% of Clorox worth $107,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth about $1,794,000. Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Clorox by 224.2% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Clorox by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Clorox during the 4th quarter worth about $826,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Clorox by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 56,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,048,000 after acquiring an additional 28,245 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clorox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLX opened at $145.98 on Wednesday. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $114.68 and a fifty-two week high of $178.21. The stock has a market cap of $18.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 231.72, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.23.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 319.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Clorox Company will post 5.52 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 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 761.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CLX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $155.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $148.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clorox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.63.

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.