Analysts Set Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Price Target at $149.93

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.93.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,388,000 after acquiring an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $139.20 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.21. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.