Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Stock Holdings Lessened by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,094 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after purchasing an additional 347,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 779,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,793,000 after purchasing an additional 318,680 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $524,584.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $524,584.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,462 shares of company stock valued at $7,206,653. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.74 on Friday, reaching $141.81. 2,064,513 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,201,267. The stock has a market cap of $47.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $145.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.23.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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

Kimberly-Clark 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.