United Asset Strategies Inc. Increases Holdings in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its position in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,989 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Clorox were worth $5,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 21,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Clorox by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Clorox by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in Clorox by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 15,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. 78.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Clorox from $139.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of Clorox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Clorox from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $174.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Clorox from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.54.

Clorox Stock Performance

Shares of CLX opened at $159.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. The Clorox Company has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.37.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.50. Clorox had a return on equity of 316.08% and a net margin of 4.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Clorox’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Clorox Company will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.04%.

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.