California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 37,791 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,058,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,791 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $250,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Motco raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 3,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S&CO Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 24,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $7.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $136.05. 2,235,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,156,469. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.43. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.85%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.