Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of KMB opened at $137.46 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $142.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $136.08 and its 200-day moving average is $127.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $524,584.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total transaction of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 13,806 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 506.8% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 10,820 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $4,253,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,081,000. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,661,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.