Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,410 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $9,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KMB opened at $138.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.34. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.