Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) PT Raised to $142.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $137.00 to $142.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on KMB. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a neutral rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, 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, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $149.14.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $142.25 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $116.63 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after buying an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after purchasing an additional 342,790 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,093,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,539,000 after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.