Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $3.31 Million Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,584 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,455 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,064,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,201,267. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $145.62. The company has a market cap of $47.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,462 shares of company stock worth $7,206,653. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company's Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.