Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $3.03 Million Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $3,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 358,926 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 206,671 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after purchasing an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,953 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $140.28 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $118.62 and a 12-month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KMB. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.