State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 100 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 92,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $12,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 333.3% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.1 %

KMB opened at $144.22 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.68. The stock has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59.

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

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

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.