Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,224 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,179 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of Kimberly-Clark worth $36,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $132.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.57. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.93 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

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.